Wes Anderson Toys with the Action Movie in The Phoenician Scheme

Wes Anderson’s sense of an ending

Wes Anderson’s films either entrance or fail. I am a devotee of earlier work, up to The Grand Budapest Hotel of 2014, but The French Dispatch (2021) was intolerably twee, without any of the emotional depth that his best films have, that intuition of pain under the capering, that connection with childhood. Asteroid City (2023) was even more mannered, lapsing into self-parody. The Phoenician Scheme, let’s say straight away, is a treat. Unlike its …

Wes Anderson isn’t in a rut, but he could do with another flop

As the celebrated auteur unveils another ornate wisp of a film in this week’s ‘The Phoenician Scheme’, Adam White asks if he has become too big to fail – and if the familiarity of his style is masking his recent evolution as a writer

Wes Anderson's 'Phoenician Scheme' is so bad it got booed at Cannes

In "The Phoenician Scheme," Wes Anderson goes all-in on aesthetics and cares for little else, writes SFGATE's Dan Gentile

Exclusive: Mia Threapleton Says Mom Kate Winslet Is "Incredibly Supportive"

Courtesy of TPS Production/Focus FeaturesLike so many Wes Anderson characters before her, The Phoenician Scheme’s Liesl makes quite a first impression. Clad in all white, from her habit to her stockings, the nun-in-training greets her long-estranged father, the fabulously wealthy plutocrat Zsa-Zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro), with a flat affect. Forthright and self-assured — and unimpressed by opulence — she immediately punctures the aura the film …

'The Phoenician Scheme' Reveals The Limits Of Wes Anderson's Style

At this point in his career, Wes Anderson is practically a genre unto himself. But even viewers attuned to his wavelength might find his latest film a challenge. The Phoenician Scheme, a star-studded 1950s espionage farce, is a surprising step backward for the whimsy maestro, whose signature aesthetic has often revealed a hidden thoughtfulness, and a melancholy outlook about the state of things. It’s not that these layers aren’t present here; ra…

Is Wes Anderson Hollywood's Most Overrated Director?

Director Wes Anderson doesn't make films. He creates visual mood poems that lack heart and soul. So why is he a critical darling?