‘The Phoenician Scheme' Review: Benicio Del Toro Hilariously Dominates Wes Anderson's Latest All-Star Wes Anderson Movie
Like Jacques Tati, Woody Allen and Luis Buñuel, there can be no mistaking a movie directed and written by Wes Anderson. An auteur in the truest sense of the word, he is as much a painter with words and visuals that put us unquestionably into part of a brain that sees the world the way he wants to see it. There's his Oscar-winning masterpiece The Grand Budapest Hotel; animated gems Isle of Dogs and my favorite Wes movie, Fantastic Mr. Fox; and a string of beloved film comedies including The Royal Tannenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited, Moonrise Kingdom and so many more including his 2024 Oscar-winning short The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. It is good to report that the filmmaker is back in style with his latest, The Phoenician Scheme, after stumbling a bit through the overly narrated and artificial (even for Anderson) Asteroid City, the most recent of his films to debut in Cannes, just as his latest world builder, The Phoenician Scheme, did Sunday night in Competition.
This one is particularly refreshing in that, instead of focusing on a number of characters, here it is Benicio Del Toro's Zsa-Zsa Korda, a shady, uber-wealthy industrialist who dominates the proceedings much the way we saw in other Anderson riffs like The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Sure, there are the usual starry cameos running through the story, but it is all in the service of Zsa-zsa, a man who dominated the business world and global economy in Europe in the early 1950s in much the same way we see Elon Musk now, an equally shady rich guy whose track record is spotty at best. In fact, there also are sly comparisons we could make even to Donald Trump with this man, whose enemies are doing everything to bring down his empire where he is accused of swindling banks, skipping tariffs, filing frivolous lawsuits — you name it, he's done it. But is it all bad?
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Zsa-zsa, who has survived six airplane crashes including the latest one that opens the film on a note of excitement, is even starting to see God, or at least a group of religious leaders who act as therapists in a way in fantasy sequences where he thinks he has died. Somehow he never does, even with a price on his head by any number of would-be assassins. His latest plan, with the lofty name of the Korda Land and Sea Phoenician Infrastructure Scheme, has him enlisting his 20-year-old daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton), who is in training to become a nun but whom he thinks could be better suited to ultimately take over his company and complicated financial dealings. Why not his nine — count 'em — nine sons (another Musk comparison)? He wants to give Liesl a shot. The idea is to create an infrastructure scheme for an unused area of Earth that can be mined for a potentially rich region that doesn't exist yet. In return, his business takes in 5% of the newfound riches in perpetuity. To do this he also has to enlist a number of wealthy donors from the worlds of shipping, mining, railroad, banking, real estate and the black market. Their identities all are contained in a set of shoeboxes, each with a particular specialty.
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First up is a visit to Prince Farouk (Riz Ahmed), who has proven savvy with his kingdom's natural wealth, then to an underground tunnel for a meeting with railroad barons Leland (Tom Hanks) and Reagan (Bryan Cranston). Another box introduces us to Marseilles Bob (Mathieu Amalric), a gangster and nightclub owner who wants terrorists to stop shooting up his place. There alsois the shipping magnate (Jeffrey Wright) who could be crucial; a second cousin named Hilda (Scarlett Johansson, in briefly) who could be new wife material; and finally leading up to his brother, the conniving Uncle Nubar (a very amusing Benedict Cumberbatch), who is big trouble in the family.
With Liesl just as interested in trying to solve her mother's murder (could it be Nubar?) as in closing the gap of Zsa-zsa's vast finances, they are on dueling paths, joined by the other major character to complete this triangle, that of Norwegian tutor Bjorn (Michael Cera), who also studies insects. Of course he does! As Anderson explains the mindset of Zsa-zsa, 'he is a certain type of businessman who can always pivot. He has no obligation to the truth.' The director cites all sorts of real-life figures from the past as inspirations for this man, people only a Jeopardy! contestant might be able to reel off instantly, but you can certainly see the Trump/Musk influence creeping in, even though this was written long before their partnership got into the picture. At least that is what I sniff here, proving Anderson's wholly fictional creation has some odd relation to our current reality. Can you imagine Zsa-zsa living in these times?
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As with all Anderson films, the production values are spectacular. This one was shot almost exclusively on soundstages at Studio Babelsberg in Germany. Bruno Delbonnel's lush cinematography (first time working on a feature with Anderson, who usually goes back to the same well of artisans) and Adam Stockhausen's production design are exquisite as are Milena Canonero's costumes and Alexandre Desplat's score.
The film belongs lock, stock and barrel to Del Toro, playing this Onassis-style billionaire who proves again to be so adept to the rhythms of Anderson's dialogue and delivers flawlessly here. So do newcomer Threapleton as Liesl and Cera, a first-timer in Anderson's stock company who undoubtedly will be asked back. Ahmed and Cumberbatch also are welcome additions, as is regular Richard Ayoade as a terrorist leader. Look for Willem Dafoe and F. Murray Abraham as pop-ups along the way, with Hanks, Cranston, Johansson and others in for a fun day's work.
Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, John Peet and Steven Rales are producers.
Title: The Phoenician SchemeFestival: Cannes (Competition)Distributor: Focus FeaturesRelease Date: June 6, 2025Director-screenwriter: Wes Anderson (story by Roman Coppola and Anderson)Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis, Richard Ayoade, Willem Dafoe , F. Murray AbrahamRating: PG-13Running time: 1 hr 41 mins
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