Review by Paul Salfen
This is Paul Salfen with your KLAK Movie Minute. In theaters this weekend is the new Wes Anderson film, The Phonician Scheme, and it’s, well, very Wes Anderson. It’s perfectly designed, pretty to look at, awkward, and full of stars like you don’t usually see them. While not up to par with the Anderson heyday of The Royal Tenenbaums or Grand Budapest Hotel, it is better than the last few he’s put out with more humor and charm and less quirkiness for the sake of quirkiness but not totally straightforward and accessible for all but that’s kind of what we all expected anyway. THis one follows a wealthy and quite odd businessman Zsa Zsa Korda played perfectly by Benicio del Toro who appoints his daughter (who’s a nun and played by Kate Winslet’s daughter) to be the sole heir to his fortune, cutting out all of his sons and then proceeds to dodge all kinds of assassination attempts in his next scheme-filled globetrotting adventure. While there’s a lot of criminal activity here, the biggest crime is having the likes of Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray, and more and completely underusing them. Let’s hope, though, that this is a step in the right direction towards another big Anderson classic. That’s it for this week. Join me next week and every week for another Movie Minute right here on 97.5 KLAK, AMFM Magazine, and RECRD.
