Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Alex Jennings, Jason Watkins, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Johanson, Jeffrey Wright, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Richard Ayoade, Riz Ahmed, Willem Defoe, F. Murray Abraham, Bill Murray, Donald Sumpter, Rupert Friend, Mathieu Amalric.
What it is to live in the mind of Wes Anderson, what it would be as a writer to sample the sense of creativity of the absurdly connective narrative and see it as a critique of the overblown dramas that use verbal interchange as a mission to dull the intellect of the masses as they substitute shock value for false cool; for only in the way that Mr. Anderson portrays the ordinary and adds beautifully entrancing possibility of language does truth show its true colours in the characters and logic of the piece.
The latest screenplay by the Texan native sees a plethora of constant collaborators take their usual bow but applaud the main players who for the first time take the lead in what is a terrifically crafted, intensely delivered, and finely tuned exercise in the use of short exchange interchange.
The life of Zsa-Zsa Korda, a man to whom possible assassination is near almost daily occurrence, is at the centre of the narrative, and it is in the hands of Benicio Del Toro that everything in the film revolves, and the presented and bestowed chaos that circles his life as he tackles The Phoenician Scheme and the possibility of considering just how low espionage and surveillance can go when making business work.
It is though with a sheer and dramatic sweeping entrance that Mia Threapleton as the assumed daughter of Korda steals the entire film, no mean accomplishment considering the absolute list of heavyweights surrounding the actor. Polished, brimming with subtly of expression, a demeanour that captivates, and one to whom has obviously learned from one of the very best on the strains of the profession; this is the effect that Mia Threapleton has on screen, and from this film alone will surely be in huge demand from this moment on.
Between Ms. Threapleton and Benicio Del Torro, The Phoenician Scheme is a classic Wes Anderson observation, filled with communication, articulated thought, and characters that are just slightly, wonderfully, off kilter. Gloriously conceived, immediately loveable.
Ian D. Hall