If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Wes Anderson’s latest feature film, “The Phoenician Scheme,” looks and feels identical to the modern auteur’s recent output, aesthetically and tonally aligned with “The French Dispatch” and “Asteroid City.”
Unafraid to double down on his increasingly ornate style, Anderson is responsible for the single most recognizable cinematic voice of this generation — a voice that has granted him complete creative freedom. Some consumers claim that such reluctance to deviate from familiar territory is unambitious, rendering his work an annoying, even tiresome self-mockery.
But until this artistic marriage drops something blatantly vapid like its critics claim, I will continue to marvel at a master at work, consistently churning out gorgeous, delicate work worthy of the legacy on its shoulders. Why deviate from a winning recipe?
“The Phoenician Scheme” is not top-tier Anderson, plagued by a meandering story and cold delivery that takes some getting used to. It doesn’t possess the warm and relatable emotional resonance of his earlier work. Still, it checks nearly every other box, throwing all that trademark Andersonian whimsy and visual elegance at the wall to craft a breezy, hilarious and slightly cartoonish version of a product we’ve come to love.
Like many Anderson productions, “The Phoenician Scheme” employs a laundry list of A-list actors, including Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and Benedict Cumberbatch to name but a few. However, most inclusions here are minor, sporadic appearances that serve the scheming of a primary trio of characters.
The spotlight is on Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro), a reckless business magnate, who appoints his sole daughter and nun, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), as the heir to his estate. Accompanied by Bjorn (Michael Cera), a Norwegian tutor and entomologist, the father-daughter duo embark on a financial enterprise to fund a sweeping infrastructure project.
Such a condensed central roster was a refreshing sight for Anderson, crafting a more intimate climate to develop its central relationships. Korda and Liesl’s father-daughter dynamic is the emotional core keeping the film grounded amid a swashbuckling escapade. Both are deadpan, unfeeling individuals navigating what it means to love and care for someone of conflicting core values.
Del Toro must confront his questionable and unethical dealings that have isolated him from much of the world in a contemplative leading-man arc akin to Bill Murray’s turn in “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.” Korda’s many near-death experiences transport him to a heavenly, black-and-white trial, where he comes to grips with a tarnished legacy unworthy of an afterlife or his daughter’s love.
The daughter of Kate Winslet, no less, Threapleton delivers an icy, endearing performance. Her chaste and innocent ways are tested in the hands of her tempestuous father and their many bizarre encounters. Through Liesl, Anderson examines the merits and dueling moralities of organized religion.
The same institutions that unleash hate and deny alternative modes of being provide people with the comfort and security to continue on. For Liesl, investment in God does not mean complete investment in the Bible, but a means to ground herself and achieve purpose in an unforgiving world.
Although Cera’s bashful comedic ways feel surgically designed to collaborate with Anderson, this is their first partnership and it won’t be the last. Bjorn is the standout performer through and through, babbling with an outwardly cartoonish Scandinavian accent. Expect to laugh.
Visually, Anderson has once again outdone himself, sprinkling his signature geometrical camerawork and pastel colors all over the screen. It is truly a gift that keeps on giving — a palette I’ll never tire of unless stripped dry of substance. Maybe there is another step to take: perhaps a step back. But, for now, all we can do is sit back and enjoy a brand of filmmaking that will never be replicated.
As long as he keeps refining rather than reinventing, his films will continue to be both familiar comforts and artistic showcases.
Popcorn rating: 4/5 bags of popcorn
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