Original caricature by Jeff York of Benicia Del Toro and Mia Threapleton in THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME (copyright 2025).
It has become popular of late to criticize writer/director Wes Anderson for his predilection for balanced framing, deadpan delivery by his cast of all-stars, and stories that are as odd as the crazy characters he places within them. First of all, this isn’t just artistic preference, it’s style first and foremost, the filmmaker’s signature, if you will. Second, why begrudge a comedy director for such a distinct and recognizable style? Name another contemporary comedy filmmaker who comes even close to letting you know it’s him behind the camera.
I’ll wait.
The fact is that the days of Ernst Lubitsch, Blake Edwards and Jerry Lewis, or even Woody Allen for that matter, are long gone and recognizable comedy directors who warrant an oeuvre are very few and far in between. For my money, Anderson stands alone today. Most importantly, his films are hilarious and his stylization helps make them so. Consistently. And such schematics are on full display in his latest film THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME.
What makes the film truly noteworthy however are the deeper emotions at play here, perhaps not seen since he comically, yet sensitively, explored first love between two adolescent campers in 2012’s MOONRISE KINGDOM. The plot of THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, written by Anderson and Roman Coppola, finds a 1950s businessman named Anatole “Zsa-Zsa” Korda (a hilariously droll Benicio Del Toro) attempting to raise the funding for his dreams of building a modern infrastructure of roads, dams, and housing in Phoenicia (an ancient civilization located in modern-day Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine). But what the film is truly about is his transformation from a brusque, buck-driven industrialist and arms dealer to a more thoughtful man, father, and philanthropist. What it takes, Anderson argues for Korda’s sake, is a number of enemies attempting to kill you, grievous bodily injury, and some quality time around family.
Indeed, Korda starts to examine his life as he goes from one business benefactor to another to shake them down for cash for his project, realizing that his personal style may be making him a marked man. Feeling the need to connect with people better and not bully or bamboozle them, he reaches out to reconcile with his grown daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton) who happens to be a nun. (It’s suggested that her time with her ruthless and money-driven father may have caused her to seek demonstrative goodness and truth elsewhere – all the way to serving God.) To get to know Liesl better, unlike the numerous male heirs he barely makes time for, he invites her to crisscross across the Middle East on his mission with him to secure funding.
The assassination attempts continue, plus a whole lot of other chicanery, and it ends up bringing father and daughter closer together. Liesl may be a nun but she smokes a pipe with passion, carries a substantial knife on her person for protection, and isn’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with her father about his shortcomings. The fact that Threapleton delivers all of her lines with such a knowing deadpan way makes her putdowns of him all the funnier. Making the whole shebang even more amusing is Michael Cera’s Bjorn, a timid tutor brought along for the adventure, as well as the many stars Anderson has cast in small but vivid roles. Particularly expert are Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston as two cold American businessmen, seemingly as ruthless as Korda, who challenge him to a game of hoop shooting to establish the percentages of their contributions.
Riz Ahmed, Scarlett Johansson, Mattheu Almaric, and Jeffrey Wright are just some of the featured players, along with some surprise celebrity cameos I shall not divulge here. But despite all of this star power and vast cast, the story stays focused on Korda and Liesl as she starts to get him to think about the existence of God, striving for the improvement of humanity over bottom lines, and not treating his family as mere possessions. Slowly but surely, Korda starts to come around and, dare I say, Anderson’s film becomes his most poignant in its way.
Is THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME top-tier Anderson? Not quite. The ending is too silly and slapstick and wastes a genuine comic talent like Benedict Cumberbatch. Additionally, I think this one isn’t quite as clever, vivid, or world-building as his masterpieces like THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX, and the aforementioned MOONRISE KINGDOM. But what THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME does show is that Anderson is interested in deepening his comedy. It’s been a move he started with 2023’s ASTEROID CITY where his large group of self-absorbed characters learned to become a community after their experience witnessing together a UFO and its alien. The petty differences and selfishness of the troupe subsided as they realized that they all shared something awesome together. A similar communal experience reshapes Korda, and also affects Liesl and Bjorn demonstrably as well.
By the end, you will likely be smiling from the tugs on your heart as well as the laughs from your belly. Wes Anderson has brilliantly adapted the stories written by others, as he did with Roald Dahl’s THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX, and the Oscar-winning live action short he made two years ago entitled THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF HENRY SUGAR. Still, I like Anderson working from his POV best and letting it inform his aesthetic, his characters, his comedy, and yes, even pathos. Anderson recognizes that the world is an odd place, filled with all sorts of eccentrics. He also knows that the craziness found in family, friends, and community can be amusing as well as comforting. It helps us belong. And that can actually be quite moving too.
