The Phoenician Scheme

The Phoenician Scheme is the third Wes Anderson film I have seen, and I wasn't sure I'd be willing to watch any of his future works after the disappointing The French Dispatch. The latter film I found to be pretentious and flat-out unengaging to put it simply. And The Phoenician Scheme seemed like it could be all of that again but I found myself willing to see if there might be something here worthy of merit.

The story sees a wealthy industrialist scrambling around on an ambitious project that requires the support of a colourful group of characters while dodging assassination attempts left, right and centre. Benicio Del Toro plays the leading role Anatole "Zsa-Zsa" Korda who is accompanied by his estranged daughter Sister Liesl, played by Mia Threapleton, and a Norwegian entomologist, played by Michael Cera. 

Just like many of Wes Anderson's film, The Phoenician Scheme features a wealth of talent in its ensemble cast and it also boasts terrific production design that favours symmetry with some nostalgia to a bygone time with its period touches. Thankfully, Anderson pulls this one off very well and the result is an entertaining 101 minute adventure with plenty of off-beat humour that has helped to make the director's name it is today. 

However, I wouldn't say this is really on-par with the likes of The Grand Budapest hotel as there is something missing at the heart of this all. It is still fun to watch in the moment but I felt the film losing momentum in the final act, and there isn't much here which will stick in the memory too long after watching. The overall impression is that this is just fine; there are moments that are very good and no one can make these type of films quite like Wes but it needed a stronger ending to really make an impression.

Thankfully, we still get three fine leads with a particular focus on Michael Cera who really excels here and I hope we see him collaborate with Anderson in the future. Die-hard fans of the director will get a kick and this will also play well with everyone else for the most part even it won't be a huge crowd pleaser. All in all, The Phoenician Scheme is a fun enough film to pass the time and gets a recommendation out of me.