We rank every Wes Anderson movie. How does 'The Phoenician Scheme' compare?
We rank every Wes Anderson movie. How does 'The Phoenician Scheme' compare?
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'The Phoenician Scheme' trailer: Benicio del Toro is a wanted man
Benicio del Toro plays an industrialist with plenty of rivals and a plan to build a grand project in Wes Anderson's "The Phoenician Scheme."
You know immediately when you're watching a Wes Anderson film.
The signature imagery, the eccentricity, the wide camera shots, the usual suspects (from Bill Murray to Owen Wilson) – all are hallmarks of Anderson's cinematic work. And over the last three decades, the Oscar-nominated auteur has made movies about dysfunctional families, thieving buddies, an island of stray dogs, young kids in love, an adventurous hotel lobby boy and many more colorful personalities.
In the filmmaker's latest all-star effort "The Phoenician Scheme" (in select theaters now, nationwide June 6), Benicio del Toro plays a wealthy businessman targeted for assassination, who makes his nun daughter (Mia Threapleton, Kate Winslet's daughter) the heir to his company and fortune.
In honor of this quirky new work, we're ranking all of the director's outings:
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13. 'Bottle Rocket' (1996)
Luke and Owen Wilson star as friends who plan to pull off a bunch of heists before joining the gang of a criminal landscaper (James Caan) until one of them falls in love with a hotel maid. Anderson's first film – and the debut for both Wilson brothers – is rough around the edges but the talent potential for all three is there from the beginning.
12. 'The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou' (2004)
Bill Murray plays the Jacques Cousteau-esque title character, a famed oceanographer and documentarian who seeks the jaguar shark that once killed his best friend. The very strange quest for his "white whale" even includes a love triangle between Zissou, a pregnant reporter (Cate Blanchett) and a man (Owen Wilson) claiming to be his son.
11. 'Asteroid City' (2023)
The sci-fi dramedy is pretty out there, even for an Anderson jam. Featuring kicky period tunes and fantastic production design, the film stars Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson and others as parents of talented kids who gather for a science convention and are quarantined by the government when a UFO shows up. But that's only half the story, as "City" has a tale-within-the-tale that distracts from the narrative more than it deepens.
10. 'Isle of Dogs' (2018)
Anderson pays tribute to Japanese cinema and the scrappy nature of underdogs in this whimsical stop-motion animated comedy. A dog flu leads a metropolis to banish pooches (voiced by Bill Murray, Edward Norton and more) to an island full of trash, and an orphan boy seeking his best friend befriends a grumpy stray (voiced by Bryan Cranston).
9. 'The Darjeeling Limited' (2007)
A year after their father's death, a trio of estranged brothers (Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman) meet up for a spiritual journey/train ride through India. They bicker, fight, save some folks and seek out their mercurial mom (Anjelica Huston) in the Himalayas on a humorous but thoughtful trip of sibling reconnection.
8. 'The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar' (2023)
There are worse things than a winsome Ralph Fiennes introducing Roald Dahl's beloved prose to a younger generation. Playing Dahl himself, he shares the story of Henry Sugar (Benedict Cumberbatch), a wealthy British man who schemes to see without using his eyes in order to win millions at blackjack − and instead, he makes a life-changing discovery.
7. 'The Phoenician Scheme' (2025)
After his latest frequent brush with death, infamous arms dealer Zsa-Zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro) makes estranged nun daughter Liesl his sole heir. With Norwegian insect nerd Bjorn (Michael Cera), they embark on a plan to build Zsa-Zsa's grand infrastructure project but also anger friends and foes alike. While the absurd shenanigans are fun, the real joy is watching a delightful del Toro and refreshing Threapleton navigating the oddly heartfelt family reconnection.
6. 'Moonrise Kingdom' (2012)
Young talent shines in Anderson's splendid 1965-set love story. The coming-of-age romance centers on two 12-year-olds – a lonely scout (Jared Gilman) and a troublemaking girl (Kara Hayward) – who run away to a New England island, with the scout's troop leader (Edward Norton) and girl's parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand) in hot pursuit.
5. 'The Royal Tenenbaums' (2001)
Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller and Luke Wilson star as genius siblings who garner fame and renown as kids yet face lackluster adulthoods. Gene Hackman hijacks the movie as their estranged father, who shows up claiming to have terminal cancer in the bittersweet and drolly hilarious dramedy – which is, for many, Anderson's signature work.
4. 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' (2009)
Anderson's first foray into stop-motion is his animated masterpiece, a brilliantly charming effort with George Clooney voicing the title character. Mr. Fox steals local food and produce to feed his family (including Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox), but running afoul of three very dangerous farmers endangers his friends and his marriage.
3. 'The French Dispatch' (2021)
An excellent ode to New Wave cinema and oddball reporters, the film follows three stories in the final issue of the titular journal, including tales of an incarcerated painter (Benicio del Toro) and a student revolutionary (Timothée Chalamet). And while he's barely in the film, Bill Murray is the beating heart playing the beloved French Dispatch editor.
2. 'Rushmore' (1998)
Anderson's Hollywood breakthrough was this stellar coming-of-age comedy with Jason Schwartzman, in his film debut, as an idiosyncratic teenager who befriends a wealthy businessman (Bill Murray). Yet the pair become rivals for the affections of a widowed first-grade teacher (Olivia Williams) and engage in some great one-upmanship shenanigans.
1. 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' (2014)
Anderson's most multifaceted film is this wonderful and wild gem with comedy, adventure, mystery, action, high drama and themes of war and friendship. Zero (Tony Revolori) is a bellhop at a famous European hotel who goes on the lam with his concierge boss (Ralph Fiennes) and falls in love with a kind baker (Saoirse Ronan) in a madcap story that also involves a rare Renaissance painting and the rise of a fascist empire.
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