Tag Archives: Jeffrey Wright

The Phoenician Scheme

Director Wes Anderson dazzles with his zany new movie The Phoenician Scheme. A gaggle of wacky characters zigzag through episodes that are not always laugh-out-loud funny but are consistently bizarre, surprising, compelling and reassuring.

Reassuring, that is, that Anderson can still make a fun film. After his recent lackluster efforts, concern that he may have lost his touch can be put aside for at least one hour and forty-five minutes as Anderson pulls out some of his trademark tricks—overhead shots, tracking shots, maps, oddly titled books etc.—and introduces a few new ones. 

As is his habit, the director employs a large cast of his favorites including Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Willem Dafoe and, in a brief appearance in a dream sequence as God, Bill Murray.

This time Anderson puts most of his eggs into one cinematic basket by making Benicio Del Toro the main star who does much of the film’s heavy lifting. He plays Zsa-Zsa Korda, a businessman who has many enemies, some of whom, he claims, are trying to assassinate him. Del Toro’s voice sounds, to my ear, almost exactly like Clark Gable’s.

Korda keeps his business matters in shoeboxes. (Hey, the film is set in the middle of the last century when people DID keep important papers and stuff in shoeboxes. And cigar boxes. Etc.) 

Also receiving an abundance of screen time is Mia Threapleton. Who? She’s the daughter of Kate Winslet and filmmaker Jim Threapleton. She plays Korda’s daughter, Liesl, who is a nun but who also wears red lipstick and heavy eye shadow.  

Korda also has nine sons who mostly stay out of sight and occasionally launch arrows down at Korda from the balcony above his table. What? Silly stuff, that’s what.

Bjorn (Michael Cera) is Korda’s assistant, who is charged with keeping control of a red satchel containing all of Korda’s liquid funds, but who frequently misplaces it.

The plot involves Korda’s lining up an assortment of individuals to get them to buy into his scheme, um, plan to fund a large infrastructure project in Phoenicia. The script is by Anderson from a story he concocted with frequent collaborator Roman Coppola.

Any recommendation of The Phoenician Scheme must be prefaced with the words “if you like Wes Anderson movies.” He has made some good and clever ones such as The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel. If you have enjoyed either or both of those, you may find The Phoenician Scheme to your liking. 

This is a film I would’ve enthusiastically embraced when I was in high school and college. Because I still maintain a certain level of immaturity, The Phoenician Scheme is goofy enough and silly enough to tap into that part of me that goes for the nonsensical. 

I also appreciate the fact that the film’s credits include the names of the housekeeping staff at the hotel where the cast and crew stayed during its production last year in Germany.

The Phoenician Scheme runs an hour and forty-five minutes. Rated PG-13.

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American Fiction

American Fiction is a brilliant film about racial hypocrisy and the people—both white and black—who exploit it. Be ready to laugh. Some of the satire is over the top but much of it is not that far from reality.

American Fiction is also a story about a family in transition… a family that happens to be black. They are dealing with death, divorce, dementia, economic concerns, new romance, promiscuity, etc. Things that many families confront. Be ready to cry.

American Fiction has a talented cast, led by Jeffrey Wright as writer/teacher Thelonius “Monk” Ellison. Tracee Ellis Ross and Sterling K. Brown are his siblings. Leslie Uggams is his mother. Erika Alexander is his new girlfriend. Issa Rae is a Sintara Golden, a writer whose work elicits a strong response from Monk. Wright is nominated for a Golden Globe and a possible Oscar nomination may be still to come for Wright (and for other cast members, too). Be ready to applaud.

After being placed on leave from his university teaching position for offending a student’s sensibilities, Monk returns home to Boston to visit his family. He attends a conference where he observes Golden’s “authentic” black voice being hailed by a mostly white audience. He responds by anonymously writing a ridiculous book about his imagined experiences as a beaten-down black man. The book becomes a critical and financial hit and wins a big award.

Meanwhile, Monk finds new love with beach house neighbor Coraline (Erika Alexander) and addresses his mother’s descent into dementia. 

Cord Jefferson, who wrote the script and directed, could be an Oscar nominee for best adapted screenplay. He would be a long shot to get a director nod from the Academy. Not just because he is a first-time director but also because competition in that category is strong this awards season. In case you’re wondering, Jefferson is a mixed-race man. 

American Fiction is a likely nominee for Best Picture. It is a film that entertains and may trigger a response or two you were not expecting. Does the film have a “message?” That depends, I think, on your own life experiences.

In one of the film’s scenes, Monk goes into a book store and sees his previously written books included in the black authors section. He tells the store clerk that his books are not “black” books per se and should be included in the general inventory. Similarly, I would suggest that, while some may see this as a “black” movie since it has a mostly black cast, American Fiction is not just for black audiences. It’s for everybody.

 It is clever and different. American Fiction is a must-see! (Rated R.)

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The Good Dinosaur

 

Pixar’s winning streak continues! The Good Dinosaur is loaded with cute. It will make kids happy and parents can love it, too.

TGD asks: “What if the asteroids that many claim decimated the earth’s dino population millions of year ago… had missed?” Dinosaurs would have co-existed with early man.

The plant-eating dinosaur family in the story features parents voiced by Jeffrey Wright and Frances McDormand. Of their three offspring, Arlo (Raymond Ochoa) is the runt of the litter. He’s the movie’s central character.

Arlo catches a “critter” in the family’s silo, rustling food. The critter is a small human boy. Arlo and the boy fall into the river and are swept away on a journey of adventure. They face a variety of challenges and peril, including from other animals, as they struggle to return home.

One ally they meet is a dino voiced by Sam Elliott who tells the pair a story about how he got a scar on his face from a battle with crocodiles.

Peter Sohn, who has been a part of the Pixar team for several movies, is the director. This is his first time directing a feature.

The landscapes of an unspoiled world where the story takes place recall parts of the western U.S. The thrilling soundtrack stirs memories of The Magnificent Seven theme and certain Aaron Copland compositions. The old cinematic trick of making pretty pictures with fireflies (as seen in Fantasia and Avatar) is employed beautifully here.

The Good Dinosaur lacks the adult appeal of last summer’s Pixar hit Inside Out. But for adults bringing kids and grandkids, TGD is solid entertainment that you will not find tedious.

The Pixar short that precedes TGD is a trippy thing involving, interestingly, Eastern religion—not the normal subject matter for animated entertainment.

 

 

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