THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME

THREE STARS A businessman has plans for Phoenicia if he can raise the cash. Others would rather he didn't, they'd rather him dead.

ADVENTURE COMEDY US English #THEPHOENICIANSCHEME Starring Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapelton

Wes Anderson’s THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME is exactly what you expect from the idiosyncratic director: a finely crafted, exquisitely styled confection that dazzles the eye but doesn’t always satisfy the appetite. Like an elaborate wedding cake - rich with intricate icing and architectural brilliance - it’s a treat to behold. But once cut into you can be left thinking about the substance…

Set in a fictional Phoenicia during the late 1950s, the film follows a ragtag ensemble entangled in a Cold War-era intrigue involving the funding of several interlocking schemes by the entrepreneurial Zsa Zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro). With the help of his daughter, a nun, and a business manager, who might be a spy, Korda works to outwit those who've placed a target on his back. He's already died several times and is a rolling victim of sabotage. The plotting, such as it is, is entertaining and frequently funny but one that Anderson, ever more curator than dramatist, approaches with ironic detachment and aesthetic obsession.

THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME is, predictably, visually immaculate. Every frame is a painting, every movement a choreographed dance. Sun-bleached colonnades, hand-painted maps, and miniature craft populate a world where every detail has been fussed over. Alexandre Desplat’s score once again blends whimsy with melancholia, though the music often feels like it’s working harder than the script to stir emotion.

In many ways, Anderson has stepped into a space vacated by Woody Allen; releasing the bi-annual, stylised, star-studded cinematic confection that sets audiences abuzz. As with Allen, all performances are finely tuned to Anderson’s precise register: deadpan, offbeat, and occasionally affected. His leads (del Toro, Michael Cera and Mia Threapleton) are joined by a ballooning cast of regulars including Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Mathieu Amalric, Hope Davis, Richard Ayoade, Benedict Cumberbatch et al. They work familiar terrain with customary precision yet it’s that precision, and familiarity, that’s becoming problematic.

The problem is not style, it’s weight. For all its craftsmanship, THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME struggles to connect on a human level. Its characters are sketched, not developed; its plot is clever but emotionally distant. Anderson’s storytelling, once brimming with undercurrents of longing and loss (think MOONRISE KINGDOM or THE FANTASTIC MR FOX) has begun to feel so self-contained that it risks becoming pastiche.

There are moments of charm - clever dialogue, droll visual gags, and a few surprisingly tender reflections on history and identity - but they’re fleeting, like decorations on the cake rather than something to truly sink your teeth into.

Anderson fans will find plenty to admire but little to remember (drawing a comparison to most of Allen’s work post his his mid-career glory). THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME is gorgeous, yes, but also airy, sweet and carb-free. A beautiful bauble that, for all its glitter, rarely cuts deep enough to leave a lasting impression.

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