The Phoenician Scheme review: Wes Anderson's latest is a funny, hollow business trip

Whether or not Wes Anderson is truly thinking about his legacy at this point of his career, the singular director’s 12th movie, The Phoenician Scheme, definitely is. Amid the traditional Anderson dry wit, specific tempo and meticulous crafting, The Phoenician Scheme is one of Anderson’s funnier and more entertaining movies in the last few years, but the emotional heart falls short of his best work.

The Phoenician Scheme stars Benicio Del Toro as Zsa-Zsa Korda, a wealthy, scheming businessman who, along with his only daughter Liesl — a nun-in-training played by Mia Threapleton — embarks on a journey to secure a business deal that will make him even more wealthy and cement his legacy. However, rivals are hellbent on stopping him, including deploying assassins.

In addition to Del Toro and Threapleton, The Phoenician Scheme cast consists of past Anderson collaborators like Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Rupert Friend, Mathieu Amalric, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hope Davis, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham and Billy Murray, as well as new additions to his troupe like Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed and Richard Ayode.

After really playing around with the story-in-a-story-in-a-story structure in Asteroid City and vignettes in The French Dispatch, it was nice to see Anderson return to a more straightforward narrative with The Phoenician Scheme. The details of the plot itself are a bit confusing, as the basics are quickly and dryly delivered early on, but eventually you get the sense of it all and are able to enjoy the journey that is unfolding.

Helping with that is one of the funnier West Anderson movies, perhaps since The Grand Budapest Hotel. There are plenty of jokes shot off in rapid fire and delivered with a deadpan that play up their absurdity, as well as a handful of visual gags that work well within Anderson’s style.

Yet despite the likes of Del Toro, Threapleton and others effectively getting the humor out with their dry deliveries, I wouldn’t say there are many standout performances in the movie. With Del Toro and Threapleton, their characters have a baseline of emotion that never changes even as their characters are supposedly doing so, creating a disconnect. As for much of the supporting cast, in most cases they are all there for too short of a time to make a real impact.

There are a couple of near exceptions. Ahmed and Amalric’s business associates of Korda feel both of Anderson’s world but also that they could exist in our own (what I think is the defining quality of the best Anderson performances, i.e. Ralph Fiennes in The Grand Budapest Hotel, Frances McDormand in Moonrise Kingdom, Gene Hackman in The Royal Tenenbaums). Then there’s Cera, who gives a great and hilarious performance as Korda and Liesl’s tutor for half the movie, then something changes and it becomes more bland.

While I will not call any of the performances bad, without a standout — particularly among Del Toro or Threapleton — there is a lack of humanity that prevents The Phoenician Scheme from effectively hitting on its themes and having the emotional resonance of the best Wes Anderson movies.

Even so, the traditional Anderson-style (along with a handful of new visual tricks) and the humor of the movie will make The Phoenician Scheme one that most fans of the Oscar-winning director will enjoy.

The Phoenician Scheme is now playing in select movie theaters in the US, opening nationwide on June 6. Also now playing in the UK.