THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME

Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Benecio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Riz Ahmed, Scarlett Johansson, Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray, F. Murray Abraham, Rupert Friend

Writer/director Wes Anderson has essentially become his own caricature, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. His oddities and verbal gymnastics are on full display in his new film The Phoenician Scheme. It’s the 1950s high above the Balkan Flatlands with Benicio Del Toro playing Zsa Zsa Korda. He’s one of the richest men in Europe and has a family consisting of nine sons and one daughter, a nun named Liesl played by Mia Threapleton. Zsa Zsa continues to have one bad business dealing after another and subsequently continues to escape death time and time again. Not even a plane crash can take him down. He knows his time on Earth may be limited thanks to a collection of tycoons, businessmen and assassins who are out to bring down his empire. Zsa Zsa’s plan is to make Liesl the sole heir to his estate and unveils to her a collection of shoeboxes each detailing a different business scheme he’s involved in. In pure Wes Anderson fashion, he has a large ensemble of supporting players along for the ride like Michael Cera, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, and of course, Bill Murray. In theaters

Here’s my review