Wes Anderson's latest precision-engineered diorama of absurdism concerns a billionaire's assassination attempt, a 3,000-year-old Phoenician land conspiracy, and a daughter determined to inherit. It's either his funniest film in a decade or an elaborate private joke � or both simultaneously.
Anderson at His Most Anderson
Benicio del Toro plays Zsa-Zsa Korda, a billionaire industrialist who survives an assassination attempt and must untangle a conspiracy rooted in a Phoenician land claim while deciding which of his children to leave his empire to. Tom Hanks narrates with the detached authority of a man reading very important footnotes. Del Toro's gravelly physicality creates fascinating friction with Anderson's porcelain aesthetic � it's his first Anderson collaboration and proves inspired casting.
"The Phoenician Scheme is Anderson's most densely plotted film and perhaps his most rewarding � a film that reveals more with each viewing."
� IndieWireThe Verdict
Essential for Anderson faithful; potentially exasperating for newcomers. At $72M on $40M, a respectable success for highly specific adult cinema. Come for the symmetry, stay for the Phoenician commercial empire subplot.
Wes Anderson's latest precision-engineered diorama of absurdism concerns a billionaire's assassination attempt, a 3,000-year-old Phoenician land conspiracy, and a daughter determined to inherit. It's either his funniest film in a decade or an elaborate private joke � or both simultaneously.