‘The Phoenician Scheme’ is more Wes Anderson magic

For his review of the 2005 Steven Spielberg film, “Munich,” The New York Times film critic A.O. Scott began with the title: “An Action Film About the Need to Talk.”

It’s a succinct way to describe the main theme of Spielberg’s underappreciated docudrama masterpiece that recounts Israeli operatives hunting down the people responsible for the Black September capture and massacre of their athletes at the 1972 Olympics. Were the retaliation measures justifiable, or were they simply acts of blind vengeance? And even if they could be justified, wouldn’t the cycle of violence just be perpetuated by the other side until each goes blind?

Although it substitutes slapstick and levity for the blood and bullets of Spielberg’s film, Wes Anderson’s newest work, “The Phoenician Scheme,” explores those same ideas in a similarly structured, if radically different, tone. And although the lack of dialogue between the warring factions was part of the problem in “Munich,” too much talking on the part of this film’s main character, Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro), sets everything in motion here.

Middle school history students would describe him as a “robber baron” or a “tycoon” on account of his shrewd business practices. Famines? He’s started them. Slavery? He’s indulged in it. Hand grenades? He has enough lying around that he offers them to all guests like cookies. Fiddling with deals and going back on his word is largely why he’s amassed his fortune, and probably why so many attempts have been made on his life.

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That’s exactly where we meet Korda in this story: surviving his sixth recorded airplane crash. At some point, the house is going to win, which is why he’s made the precautionary move to have his estranged novitiate daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), returned home so that she can assume possession of his estate should the unthinkable happen.

But before he can defy his enemies by retiring, he must tighten the final screws on a massive infrastructure project in the fictional Middle Eastern territory of Phoenicia that will bring him and several future generations enough passive income to stay atop the throne.

On this journey, we stop to meet each of the members who make up this wall-to-wall A-list cast. Many of them have previously featured in Anderson’s films, such as Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston returning from their live-action debut in “Asteroid City” to play American train tycoon brothers who prefer to settle disputes over a game of H-O-R-S-E. I will jump the gun here and say that the scene where they challenge Zsa-zsa and the prince of Phoenicia (Riz Ahmed) to said game might be the funniest moment Anderson has ever created. There are also multi-film veterans like Mathieu Amalric (coincidentally, also in “Munich”), Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe and Rupert Friend.

“The story of a family and a family business” is the plot summary provided. It’s apt, as a full explanation of all the machinations that go on here would require many more paragraphs. I was never quite sure who everyone was, why they were important and what needed to happen between them for the conflict to be resolved. But I also don’t think Anderson wants us to pay that much attention to the nitty gritty details. I suppose you could if you really wanted to, as there’s plenty of information doled out through the trademarked sumptuous production.

What’s really important here is not the 5 Ws, but the 1 H. Spurred on by a combination of Liesl’s objections to his malpractices and the gradual melting of his cold, Grinch-like heart, Zsa-zsa begins to see the error of his ways. “Let’s communicate,” is a punchline he says in each encounter, all caused by everyone’s instinctual failure to bring their best intentions to the table. In a time when the terms “trade war” and “tariffs” have become shorthand for an outdated and backward way of conducting business, here’s a story that preaches the value of being simultaneously kind and successful.

Del Toro is excellent, making Zsa-zsa a thorny and compelling character. There are a lot of laughs to be had from his line deliveries, and his command of the scenery Anderson places him in.

Except for cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman, who’s been quietly replaced by the equally fantastic Bruno Delbonnel, all the usual craftspeople align the credits. Anderson continues to prove that he has total dominion over a world that only he can create and perfect. So many have tried and failed to replicate, but there can only be one.

Anderson is a lot like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At this point, you’re either in or you’re out. I’m so deep in the bag that it might as well be the one from “Mary Poppins.” I’ve seen a lot of films, and the majority of them all follow the same pattern. Anderson’s films certainly aren’t an exception, but there is always something magical about their sameness. And like Nicole Kidman always says: “We come to this place (the cinema) for magic.”

Focus Features will release “The Phoenician Scheme” in New York and Los Angeles on May 30. It will expand nationwide on June 6.

Eden Prairie resident Hunter Friesen is a film critic who owns and operates The Cinema Dispatch, a website where he writes reviews, essays, and more. He currently serves as the president of the Minnesota Film Critics Association and travels the globe covering film festivals both big and small. To view his entire body of work, you can visit his website and Instagram.