A crafty businessman with a death wish concocts a shady scheme in Anderson’s new work that seems to have diminishing returns, though backed by strong performances from Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton and Michael Cera.

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There is no doubt that Wes Anderson is one of the medium’s most stylistically consistent artists, whether he produces hits or misses.  For example, I adore The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) but nearly walked out of The French Dispatch (2021).  I know of friends who have thought the opposite. 

And so, the adage that someone’s trash is another person’s treasure isn’t false, and therein lies the enigma that is Mr. Anderson—he will continue to operate in the sandbox that he has voluntarily enclosed himself in, and even if his tools start to wear and tear, audiences will still surround that sandbox just to have a chance to see what the chef is brewing next. 

His latest yarn, The Phoenician Scheme, is about a crafty businessman, Mr. Korda, who has survived numerous assassination attempts, hoping that his daughter (presently a nun) would inherit his considerable assets should he die one day. 

Cooking up a new scheme that takes him on an adventure to negotiate business deals with various key figures, Anderson’s work plays out as a series of short vignettes that seem to have, shall we say, diminishing returns, similar to Mr. Korda’s declining success rate. 

The film starts strongly (violently if I may add), but somewhat peters out when we get to the segment about two-thirds in with Scarlett Johansson.  However, I must say that Benicio del Toro and relative new face Mia Threapleton, who play the father-daughter duo, are splendid in their roles. 

“Myself, I feel very safe.”

And so is Michael Cera as an eccentric family tutor, who apparently has not starred in an Anderson film before, when he is already so Wes-coded. 

An exploration into the colourful underworld of shady business deals, tariff references and all, The Phoenician Scheme might also be Anderson’s most ‘religious’ work (his most ‘spiritual’ would be the underrated The Darjeeling Limited) as the recurring black-and-white segments of the afterlife would attest. 

So, has Wes reached some kind of artistic ceiling with these latest films?  Many will argue so, though just as many will recognise that he continues to provide unique pleasures of mise-en-scene and wit that no one else can replicate today. 

Amusingly enough, there is a scene of someone lamenting about his beautiful ceiling being destroyed.  But let’s see if Wes can tear it all down altogether and produce something truly surprising or revelatory in the near future, because at this rate, AI technology might just surpass him.

Grade: B

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