This review uses footnotes for fun facts and sidetracks.
At this point, as a general rule, and not entirely unwarranted, people have developed a tolerance to Wes Anderson. A fatigue, maybe, but definitely there are expectations that need surpassing for the average watcher to consider it “good”. The Phoenician Scheme does not defy expectations, but it is “good”. It is, cinematographically, gorgeous. Picture book-precise, planimetric, even a little flat, but it’s painterly and beautiful– to quote Zsa-Zsa Korda, the movie’s leading man, “don’t buy great art, buy masterpieces”.
That alone will win it some fans, especially on letterboxd, but it won’t win oscars. It has maybe one of the biggest casts all year– one that puts the new avengers movie to shame1– but again, I’ll be surprised if it’s even nominated. Wes Anderson has done it before– made a beautiful movie, I mean– and better2.
Still, I’d like to make a case for The Phoenician Scheme, which left me thoroughly charmed, pleased, and content with the trip to the movies–and even life in general. After all, behind the pastels and deadpan deliveries, that’s what Wes Anderson movies are good for: A feeling of being in a picture book, a world where everything is neatly-organised, charming, and without much suffering– that everything is going to be ok.
In a way, that’s what most Marvel movies aim for too, but the difference is the details of the power fantasy. A superhero gets to do what they want, they reshape the world how they want it– fighting the good fight, banishing evil, stopping falling buildings, and so on.
That’s great fun too, that’s what we’d like to see in our world: a little more heroism, a little less death. But in a Wes Anderson movie, the world is already shaped how we’d want it. There are no great evils, just a few rascals and rapscallions. Sure, the world might be a little too pastel for some, but it’s stylish, straightforward, well-lit– and for dinner, they eat squab3. It’s a world where people don’t suffer– not even when they’re shot, poisoned, or vaporised in a plane crash. It’s heaven designed by Wes Anderson.
If nothing else, The Phoenician Scheme gives another chance to visit this heaven, explore it, meet new people, and enjoy it with the luxury of Zsa-Zsa Korda’s private plane. The scheme itself is a little convoluted, and not especially relevant, but to give you a guide rope for the fairly vague plotline:
Korda (a deadpan Benicio Del Toro) is one of the aforementioned rapscallions– a cowboy capitalist vilified by banks and bureaucrats alike– and he decides to will his fortune to his only daughter (A devout nun, played Mia Threapleton4). Before he can, the bureaucrats get in the way, manipulating the markets to put him out of business. His scheme is to rally his business partners in Phoenicia to a new project: The Gap. Along the way, he thwarts assassination attempts, bonds with his daughter, and recalls a religious vision he had after surviving his latest plane crash.
It’s a cute movie, and Anderson’s reeled in his artistic eccentricities since Asteroid City and The French Dispatch. The return to Roald Dahl (The Henry Sugar Collection on Netflix) did him good, and ignoring the corporate chaos surrounding Korda’s scheme, it’s a straightforward story anyone can enjoy. In fact, since it’s in the cinemas, I’d even recommend it to people as their first Wes Anderson movie. That’s something I haven’t been able to do in awhile.
So, if you felt that Anderson got a little too twee, leaned into his aesthetic too far, this is a palate cleanser (a good one). It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it’s actually pretty funny too5. Worth a trip to the movies and into Wes Anderson’s world once more.
- To name a few: Scarlett Johannson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Willem Dafoe, and even one of my favourite french actresses, Charlotte Gainsbourg. ↩︎
- The Phoenician Scheme is a movie I love, but it doesn’t hold a flickering birthday candle to Fantastic Mr Fox or The Royal Tenenbaums. ↩︎
- A young pigeon roasted like peking duck. Anderson also mentions the dish in Fantastic Mr Fox, he must think it’s the height of cuisine. ↩︎
- Kate Winslet’s daughter. ↩︎
- I was skeptical about Michael Cera (who plays a scandi tutor) because he plays it up with very silly accent but that silliness gives the movie a much needed air of lightheartedness, like the cast are all having fun making this movie too. And then in true Wes Anderson fashion, it all ties up into a neat bow at the end (and invites future rewatches). ↩︎
