The Phoenician Scheme (2025)

​I love how easy Wes Anderson movies are to watch, at least for me. They are always visually stunning, funny in a quirky way, and there's always a feel good element to their stories. I've seen all his movies multiple times (except the French Dispatch, I'm just now realizing) and if I walk into a room where one is playing I'm liable to forget my path, sit down, and enjoy them again. The Phoenician Scheme does not do anything particularly new except one thing - it adds Michael Cera to the group. And I particularly love that one new thing. This is indeed the funniest Anderson film since The Grand Budapest Hotel, thanks to a overtly goofy script about a dysfunctional rich family (sound familiar?) and of course Cera's performance. We also get Bill Murray playing God, a basketball match against Bryan Cranston and Tom Hanks, and party favor hand grenades'. "That's alright I brought my own." Even now as I write and think about the experience, I'm already ready to watch it again. I hope that one day Anderson does break the mold his last decade of films so easily fit into, but even if he doesn't, I'll still be there day one excited and ready to watch.

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