MOVIE REVIEW: 'Phoneician Scheme' is film noir filmed by a madman
Wes Anderson's latest movie boarders on nonsesnical, but that's the joy of it.
If "The Phonecian Scheme," Wes Anderson's fine new film, were shot in black and white with long shadows in rain-soaked city streets, it might easily pass for a classic film noir.
The movie focuses on the machinations of Zsa-Zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro), an amoral character who manages to be both protagonist and antagonist.
Korda manipulates everyone from his nun-in-training daughter, Liesa (Mia Therapleton), to titans of industry, terrorists, gangsters, and his estranged half-brother Nubar (Benedict Cumberbatch).
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Cumberbatch's turn as a villain nearly steals the whole movie with his seething rage and absurd wiry beard and arched eyebrows.
There are too many assassination attempts on Korda to count, double-crosses, and a temporary marriage of convenience between Korda and his second cousin, Hilda (Scarlett Johansson).
Along for the ride is Bjorn (Michael Cera), whom Korda hires to teach his nine sons about bugs. Bjorn shamelessly flirts with Liesa.
Korda takes beatings as often as Humphrey Bogart did in his classic noirs.
And like a good noir, the plot is overly and intentionally complicated, and efforts to explain it, however overt, only confuse the matter more.
"The Phonecian Scheme" is not a noir; it is a Wes Anderson movie, and as such, defies conventional description.
Anderson sets every shot in his films like a still life for a mid-century Sears catalog. Everything is in perfect order, placed for purposes of both aesthetics and functions in the plot.
Anderson's films are always lovely to look at — and often amusing — without restraining themselves to narrative cohesion.
Anderson somehow elicits deadpan dialogue delivery from some of Hollywood's most dynamic actors; that flat affect becomes a part of the film's signature as Anderson's meticulous designs.
The plot, if I can keep it straight, goes something like this: Korda is a shady businessman who has ticked off nearly everyone in the world of high-stakes dealmaking.
He's got one last big scheme that involves a train running through a mountain, a hydroelectric dam, and one or two other things I am likely forgetting.
Enemies plot to disrupt Korda by artificially increasing the price of rivets. The move forces Korda to travel to the financial backers of the scheme and attempt to get each player to increase their stake to cover the gap between the estimated and actual project cost.
This involves a madcap series of events that include everything from Korda taking a bullet to the abdomen to playing pick-up basketball in an underground railroad tunnel.
"The Phonecian Scheme" is thoroughly enjoyable if nonsensical. (There's a running gag in which Korda offers each business partner a hand grenade.)
An acquaintance of mine once opined: "If you don't like Wes Anderson movies, you don't like film."
I thought that was an arrogant overstatement by someone trying to cultivate a film snob image, but there is a hint of truth to the statement.
If you are inclined to look beyond story and special effects and dig deeper into what the art of cinema can offer, I wholeheartedly recommend "The Phonecian Scheme," and, for that matter, most of Anderson's oeuvre.
"The Phonecian Scheme" is not my favorite Anderson movie, but it is a worthy watch, an excellent palate cleanser between studio tentpoles, and fun in the way that makes one think: "I'm not sure what I just saw, but I'm pretty sure I liked it."
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