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‘The Phoenician Scheme’ Review: Wes Anderson Weighs In on the Art of the Deal and Assorted Other Funny Business
Wes Anderson taps into a softer side of Benicio del Toro, who plays a man trying to make amends to his estranged daughter in 'The Phoenician Scheme.'
Now, such men run countries, though one shouldn’t read too strong a political message into Anderson’s latest divertissement, “ The Phoenician Scheme.” A tongue-in-cheek look at one such titan, the dense but undeniably enjoyable saga doubles as a moving father-daughter tale and ultimately seems far more interested in exploring the robber baron spirit of 20th-century capitalism than its consequences. Inspired by the likes of J. Paul Getty, J.P. Morgan and Anderson’s late father-in-law, Lebanese construction mogul Fouad Mikhael Malouf, “The Phoenician Scheme” promotes Benicio del Toro from bit player (the incarcerated artistic genius in 2021’s “The French Dispatch”) to protagonist in the Anders-universe. As Korda tries to cover a funding gap that could potentially crater his plans, most of “The Phoenician Scheme” is spent criss-crossing a fictional country (Modern Greater Independent Phoenicia) loosely inspired by the Arabian Peninsula, with Leisl and her twerpy Swedish tutor Bjorn (Michael Cera) in tow.
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