Dir: Wes Anderson | Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Wright | Writers: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola (story by) | US 100’
Mia Threapleton is the star turn in this latest 1950s set comedy thriller from Wes Anderson. Alongside a droll but shallow Benicio Del Toro as her industrialist father Zsa Zsa Korda, who has just survived another assassination attempt from his ubiquitous business partners. As no-nonsense nun, Liesl injects reason and rigour into the The Phoenician Scheme that beats as it sweeps in a percussive score in the well-trodden Anderson style.
The story, about an unfeasible venture to tap into the resources of an imagined country called Phoenicia, is a limp affair but that’s just the point. In her white starched habit and full make-up Liesl is persuaded to join her father and his assistant (Michel Cera) on a peripatetic mission to drum-up finance for the ill-fated endeavour. The cast really outperform their underwritten roles and the settings are satisfyingly eye-popping with their turquoise and terracotta aesthetic. At the end of the day is the same old Anderson fare. @MeredithTaylor
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