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Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘The Phoenician Scheme' is a cinematic scam
It's a well-known fact that I am not a fan of Wes Anderson's movies. I find them repetitive, relentlessly twee, and joyless, with actors delivering stilted dialogue as if they were talking robots whose batteries were about to die. This opinion has gotten me into trouble: Some of the angriest—and most racist—e-mails I've received have been after reviews of Anderson's films. His fans make Marvel stans look like pussycats. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up I may not be a fan, but Anderson did get three positive reviews out of me. I thought about what endeared me to ' Advertisement Mathieu Amalric as Marseille Bob, Michael Cera as Bjorn, Benicio Del Toro as Zsa-Zsa Korda, Mia Threapleton as Liesl, and Jeffrey Wright as Marty. TPS Productions/Focus Features Advertisement But even at their worst, I used to think Anderson's films were visually interesting. It's the trait for which he's most known and celebrated. But as of late, his films have become rife with eye-scorching ugliness. In 'The Phoenician Scheme' is a 1950s period piece that looks even more obnoxious. The opening credits play atop a bird's eye view of Korda's bathroom as he takes a bath. Its layout resembles a schematic drawing that's mostly made up of a searing white palette. The entire scene is done in one overhead shot populated with white-costumed servants going about their business. The result hurt my eyes so much I had to look away several times. It only gets worse from there, as Korda goes to visit Liesl (Kate Winslet's daughter, Mia Threapleton), the only daughter in his brood of ten children. She's a novice nun dressed in an white outfit that makes her resemble a folded handkerchief with a face. Liesl will be the sole heir to her father's ill-gotten estate, items represented by several neat shoeboxes with labels on them. These boxes also contain information that will help them carry out a scheme in the fictional European country of Phoenicia. Liesl is not interested. She's devout in her faith and believes Korda murdered her mother. He insists that the murder was committed by her Uncle Nubar (Benedict Cumberbatch, looking like Rasputin with a bad hangover). Proving she's as stubborn as her father, Liesl digs in her heels about taking her vows. But, with people trying (and failing) every ten minutes or so to assassinate Korda, he figures he'd better teach Liesl everything she needs to know before he's killed. She acquiesces. Advertisement I shouldn't imply that no one gets close to successfully offing Korda. He has several near-death experiences where he ascends to Heaven. These are shot in black-and-white, in a different aspect ratio, and feature Willem Dafoe and F. Murray Abraham. God is represented by Bill Murray hiding behind a gigantic beard. Bill Murray stars as God. TPS Productions/Focus Features Back on Earth, Korda swindles a wide variety of characters in cutesy vignettes that repeat the same unfunny joke. The list of victims includes Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston as basketball loving brothers; Jeffrey Wright as an American named Marty; the club owner Marseille Bob (Mathieu Amalric); and a prince named Farouk (Riz Ahmed). Scarlett Johansson also shows up as Korda's cousin, Hilda, to whom he proposes marriage. Unlike her major role in 'Asteroid City,' she has about three lines in this movie. Every character I just mentioned is dressed in ridiculous makeup and costumes. They each also get a grenade as a present from Korda, which they all accept in the same manner. I'll never understand how Anderson keeps getting casts so large they would make disaster movie maven Irwin Allen jealous. They're just as disposable and interchangeable as Allen's fodder in films like 'The Poseidon Adventure.' But Anderson does manage one major casting success. As Bjorn, an awkward insect specialist hired as a tutor for Liesl, Michael Cera gives a career-best performance. He and Threapleton somehow manage to make Anderson's dreadful dialogue style work. Advertisement Michael Cera as Bjorn and Mia Threapleton as Liesl. TPS Productions/Focus Features There's another director Anderson deserves to be compared to: his fellow Oscar winner, Tyler Perry. If that comparison immediately raised your hackles and stirred your rage, you should seriously look in the mirror and ask yourself why. Despite hiding behind thin and seemingly different plots (the story here is a half-hearted attempt to debate religion vs. capitalist greed), both of these guys keep making the same movie over and over. Neither of them has to change their tired formats. In Perry's case, his fans continue to flock to his repetitive, faith-based movies—with and without Madea. In Anderson's case, film critics dance the Hucklebuck every time he puts out one of these out, forgiving him his trespasses and ignoring the glaring issues his movies have. It's not a coincidence that both Perry and Anderson have movies opening on the same day—at least not in my mind. And it's June 6, the birthday of Damien, Satan's son in 'The Omen,' which is appropriate. ★ THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME Written and directed by Wes Anderson. Starring Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Ceara, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, Benedict Cumberbatch, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Bill Murray, Mathieu Amalric, Riz Ahmed, Scarlett Johanssen. At Coolidge Corner, Dedham Community Theatre, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, suburbs. 101 min. PG-13 (this is pretty violent for a comedy) Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
Extra.ie
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Wes Anderson on The Phoenician Scheme: 'In a way, it's the kind of America I am drawn to, something that's so optimistic'
As the director of the iconic likes of Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel, every film from Wes Anderson is a bona fide cinematic event, and that's most definitely the case with his new espionage black comedy, The Phoenician Scheme. Set in 1950, the action focuses on Anatole 'Zsa-zsa' Korda (Benicio del Toro), one of Europe's richest industrialists, who appoints his only daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton) – a nun – as the heir to his estate. As Korda embarks on a new enterprise, they become the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists and lethal assassins. For good measure, along the way, Liesl also investigates the murder of her mother, Korda's first wife. Boasting Anderson's trademark visual flair, The Phoenician Scheme – which he co-wrote with Roman Coppola – also features the director's customary deft mix of humour and pathos. Adding to the appeal, meanwhile, is a truly extraordinary ensemble cast. As one of Hollywood's premier filmmakers, Anderson has worked with his fair share of major stars, but this time he has outdone himself. In addition to del Toro and newcomer Threapleton – whose mum is one Kate Winslet – the third lead is Michael Cera, who plays Zsa-zsa's Norwegian tutor, Bjorn. Thereafter, it might actually be quicker to list the A-listers who aren't in the movie, with those making appearances including – deep breath – Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright and Scarlett Johansson. Not to mention Richard Ayoade and Benedict Cumberbatch. Phew! And having had the third act of his career, as the doyen of US indie cinema, launched by Anderson in Rushmore way back in'999, Bill Murray again returns to cameo in the role he may have been born to play: God. But front and centre is del Toro as Zsa-zsa, who instantly takes his place in the pantheon of great Anderson anti-heroes. Wheeling and dealing on the post-war continent, Zsa-zsa is the archetypal European business tycoon, who perhaps enjoys even more mythical status than his American equivalents. (L to R) Actor Mathieu Amalric, director Wes Anderson, actors Mia Threapleton and Benicio Del Toro during the production of THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME. Credit: Roger Do Minh/TPS Productions/Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved 'A certain type of businessman who can always pivot, ' suggests Anderson,' and has very little obligation to honour the truth' With his enigmatic demeanour, meanwhile, Zsa-zsa's cinematic antecedents include Charles Foster Kane. 'The beginning of the story was to try to invent something about one of these 1950s Euro tycoons, like an Onassis or Niarchos,' says Anderson. 'I had read about Árpád Plesch and Calouste Gulbenkian, or Gianni Agnelli as well' Korda's epic project represents the culmination of a decades-long, career-defining venture, which involves the realisation of Phoenicia's full socio-economic potential. As he looks to escape the clutches of the many enemies plotting his demise, Korda, Liesl, and their assorted partners must close The Gap (a rapidly expanding financial shortfall), which Zsa-zsa summarises as 'everything that we got – plus a little more'. With The Phoenician Scheme laid out – in an elaborate set of shoeboxes, no less – the three amigos attempt to enlist the help of their various business partners. There's a summit with Prince Farouk (Riz Ahmed), and then there's an underground – literally, they meet in a tunnel – encounter with the duo Leland and Reagan, played respectively by Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston. 'With the railroad men, even though it is a later era,' says Anderson, 'we still wanted something coming from the robber baron period, a JP Morgan-type railway man, though being Californian. That led us to Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston. Roman and I had spent time with them together, and I just knew they had a very special character, and something totally American that you don't find anywhere else. 'In a way, it's the kind of America I am drawn to, something that's so optimistic. So we dreamed up this whole thing that's very West Coast America – the older West Coast, Sacramento – that I associate with that, which maybe comes out of Joan Didion somehow. But I am also thinking of Ronald Reagan. It's not the movie business, it's more Pasadena.' (L to R) Mia Threapleton as Liesl, Benicio Del Toro as Zsa-Zsa Korda and Michael Cera as Bjorn in director Wes Anderson's THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved. One of the comedic highlights of The Phoenician Scheme is Benedict Cumberbatch as Uncle Nubar, an homage in name and look to Nubar Gulbenkian, the magnificently bearded and famously litigious son of Armenian businessman and philanthropist Calouste Gulbenkian. 'We had the great, good fortune that Benedict could come to do the part,' says Anderson.' It's one of those kinds of characters that people in the story keep talking about all along, but who doesn't enter until much later… It is such a familiar story that these men totally neglect their children, who also expect them to achieve more than their peers.' It's remarkable that one of Cumberbatch's most notable early roles came alongside Richard Ayoade in Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker's cult 2005 sitcom Nathan Barley – and now, 20 years later, here they are starring in The Phoenician Scheme, where Ayoade plays terrorist leader Sergio. 'Richard is an old friend now,' says Anderson. 'It is like that Buñuel thing as well, having a group of terrorists like The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie. Buñuel has anarchy deep in his personality. I am sure the guerrillas come out of that; this idea that one of the most erudite people you will meet is also the leader of the jungle unit of this militia'. For all of The Phoenician Scheme's picaresque qualities and witty humour, at the heart of the tale is a recurring theme in Anderson's stories: the attempt to repair damaged family relationships, as Zsa-zsa looks to reconnect with his daughter Liesl. It's an aspect of the story del Toro handles beautifully, and as the director notes, he was always the actor he had in mind. 'The interest for me in writing a story about a character like that was the visual in my mind of Benicio playing the character,' says Anderson. 'The idea for the movie was to write a part specifically for Benicio del Toro. I first brought this up with Benicio in 2021, at Cannes for The French Dispatch. I told him then that something was coming his way if he was interested. 'Benicio and I started working on it very early. As soon as there were 15 pages of the script, he'd seen that. There was never a moment in the process when Benicio was not involved.' Indeed, as the director further notes, del Toro was the only actor he ever envisioned in the part, at least in the modern era. 'The kind of character who might have been played by Anthony Quinn, or maybe Lino Ventura, or Jean Gabin,' says Anderson. 'If Benicio didn't want to do it, I don't know who would have been a viable option. You'd have to go back into the history of cinema for that.'
Scotsman
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Film reviews: The Phoenician Scheme
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Phoenician Scheme (15) ★★★★ Lilo & Stitch (U) ★★ Wes Anderson is the most singular American filmmaker currently working, but his distinctive style sometimes gives the impression he's retreating further and further from reality into his own hermetically sealed world of irony and whimsy. Really, though, his films are rife with human drama; it just seeps in unexpectedly in odd ways. Benicio Del Toro as Zsa-Zsa Korda, Mia Threapleton as Liesl and Michael Cera as Bjorn and Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme | Courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features That's true of his new film The Phoenician Scheme, largely thanks to Benicio Del Toro, who responds to the constrictions of the film's mannered style by turns his character into a kind of bemused powder keg who could go off at any moment (there's a repeated gag involving hand grenades). He plays Zsa-Zsa Korda, a business tycoon in crisis who enlists his convent-bound daughter Leisl (played by Mia Threapleton, daughter of Kate Winslet) in a quest to pull off a complicated business deal after a series of failed assassination attempts force him to confront his own mortality. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The resulting film moves at a fair clip as Anderson crams in arch gags, surreal action sequences and his usual array of kooks and crazies, none of which is likely to convert Anderson agnostics, but if you're already on board, it's another intriguing piece of the meticulously designed puzzle that is his work. And Del Toro really is magnificent. First released in 2002, Lilo & Stitch was one of the last traditionally animated Disney films, a minor high point on an otherwise downward trajectory of mediocrity. Now the anarchic cartoon about a genetically engineered alien befriending a lonely six-year-old in Hawaii gets its inevitable live-action remake and the results, sadly, highlight the diminishing creative returns of this ongoing practice. It's an odd fit for live action too, given so much of it is built around its young protagonist, Lilo. Things that work in the animated version are harder to get across with such a young performer and the film has too many complicated digital effects to enable director Dean Fleischer Camp (who made the lovely Marcel the Shell with Shoes On) to keep things loose enough to improvise around her. There's still plenty of slapstick humour involving the digitally animated Stitch to keep young kids happy, but with a running time approaching two hours (the original was a tight 80-minutes) you feel it dragging.
Vogue Singapore
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue Singapore
Wes Anderson tapped Cartier to create a rosary for The Phoenician Scheme
If there's anything we can expect from the Wes Anderson Cinematic Universe, it's that everything will be beautiful. Famously dedicated to aesthetics, no detail is too small for the director. For his latest film, The Phoenician Scheme (which premiered yesterday at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival), Anderson tapped Cartier to fashion one of the film's most recurring props: a rosary. Courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved. Anderson's 12th directorial venture follows a wealthy, embattled businessman, Zsa-zsa Korta (Benicio del Toro), who designates his only daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), as the heir to his estate. Liesl, a nun, is almost always pictured with the rosary wrapped around her hand. Anderson approached Cartier to create Liesl's bespoke rosary after stumbling upon one of the house's cross pendants from approximately 1880. Artisans from the high jewellery studio recreated the cross on a larger scale, at nearly 5.5 cm, to help enhance visibility onscreen. The ornate white gold cross is inlaid with rose-cut diamonds and a large central ruby cabochon, while the 78.5 cm chain features emerald beads, briolette-, square-, and rose-cut diamonds, along with five ruby cabochons. Matthieu Lavanchy Courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved. Cartier opted to incorporate rose-cut stones into the necklace as they felt it lent to Anderson's vision and penchant for vintage-inspired aesthetics. Meant to sparkle under candlelight, rose-cut diamonds peaked in popularity during the Victorian Era. So, while perhaps it would be unusual to see a nun carrying such an opulent piece of jewellery in our world, it fits right into the universe that Wes Anderson has created. This article was originally published on Vogue .com.
Vogue Singapore
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue Singapore
What does a blood-splattered Wes Anderson action movie look like? 'The Phoenician Scheme' is the answer Lifestyle, Entertainment
Wes Anderson knows exactly what he's doing. Almost since the beginning of his now 30-plus-year career, the ever-quirky American auteur has established his instantly recognisable style—symmetrical shots, stilted scripts, immaculate production design, a generous dose of whimsy—and largely stuck to it. There have been notable highs that penetrated beyond the Andersonian sphere (2001's The Royal Tenenbaums , 2014's The Grand Budapest Hotel ), but in more recent years, the director has seemed content to roll out a steady stream of amusing diversions which mainly cater to his existing fans. Asteroid City , the last film he premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, was a modest delight, and The French Dispatch and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar , in my view, slightly less successful, but they didn't play all that much with this established formula. However, his latest release, The Phoenician Scheme , which marks his return to the Croisette, is slightly different. Yes, it's shot with Anderson's usual exactness, features incredibly surreal dialogue, intricately designed sets and costumes, and several head-scratching, almost hallucinatory sequences, but it also happens to be—wait for it—a blood-pumping action movie. There are giant explosions, brutal plane crashes in the jungle, shoot-outs in the desert, secret assassins, fist fights, flaming arrows, hand grenades, gruesome injuries and bullets which need extracting, and a more frenetic pace. The truth is, if you're already tired of Anderson's various idiosyncrasies, this likely won't be enough to win you over—it is still very much a Wes Anderson film—but for those of us who are fond of the filmmaker but have been less enthused about his last few efforts, his latest injects an often thrilling new lease of life into proceedings. Mia Threapleton's Liesl, Benicio del Toro's Zsa-zsa Korda, and Michael Cera's Bjorn in The Phoenician Scheme . Courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features We begin in the High Balkan Plains in 1950, with Benicio del Toro's gruff, grizzled, and nigh on indestructible Zsa-zsa Korda, a mogul who has just survived his sixth plane crash. As attempts on his life become more frequent, his mind has turned to the issue of succession. Enter Liesl (a scene-stealing Mia Threapleton, the 24-year-old daughter of screen legend Kate Winslet), a nun who also happens to be Korda's only daughter. Given his nine sons don't seem up to the task, he selects her as the sole heir to his estate, and sets about handing over the reins. Cue a mad dash to rendezvous with his business associates, all the while foiling further assassination plots. Along the way, we meet everyone from Michael Cera's Bjørn, an eccentric tutor and love interest to Liesl; to Riz Ahmed's suave Prince Farouk; Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston's hoop-shooting titans; Mathieu Amalric's fez-wearing nightclub owner; Richard Ayoade's gun-slinging renegade; Jeffrey Wright's frustrated seafarer; Rupert Friend's steely government official; Scarlett Johansson's concerned relative; and Benedict Cumberbatch as a bearded, tufty-eyebrowed, Count Olaf-esque supervillain. There are even brief interludes set in heaven, featuring Charlotte Gainsbourg as Korda's first wife and Liesl's mother, as well as Bill Murray as God, naturally. Benicio del Toro, Michael Cera, and Mia Threapleton in The Phoenician Scheme . Courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features With its glut of stars, abundant twists, wild action set pieces, and predictably stunning world building, The Phoenician Scheme is never less than diverting, though some of the more outlandish episodic segments—and particularly one involving a basketball match—feel too contrived and drag on a little too long. There are also far too many characters, and most are very thinly sketched, meaning they act more as walking punchlines than supporting players we can actually invest in emotionally. That's not true, though, of Korda and Liesl, who are far more textured and compelling, and whose slowly strengthening father-daughter bond is the glue that binds the film together. Del Toro, always a formidable presence, is magnetic here, but it is Threapleton who is the real revelation. The young actor was impressive opposite her lauded mother in I Am Ruth in 2022, and has appeared in the likes of Scoop , Dangerous Liaisons , and The Buccaneers , but this is, undeniably, her big moment on the global stage. Her Liesl is a firecracker who has no qualms about going toe to toe with her powerful father—hilariously deadpan, no-nonsense, and with all the best quips, but also human, with a real heart, conscience, and crises of faith. Benicio del Toro in The Phoenician Scheme . Courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features She's sure to be remembered in the pantheon of resourceful Wes Anderson heroines—Gwyneth Paltrow's Margot Tenenbaum, Saoirse Ronan's angelic baker Agatha in The Grand Budapest Hotel —and with her stark white nun's garb, cross necklace, rosary beads, bright blue eyeshadow, and cherry-red lips and nails, is guaranteed to inspire costumes come next Halloween, too. Unlike The Royal Tenenbaums and Grand Budapest , The Phoenician Scheme may not be a Wes Anderson film for the ages, but it's a crowd-pleasing charmer nonetheless—and one which quietly tests the boundaries of the director's very carefully constructed world. For that alone, it's well worth seeking out. This story was originally published on
