Rushmore (1998)

Rushmore
When I began to watch "Rushmore," I had no idea where it was headed. There seemed to be no direction of the story and I was ready to be bored for an hour or two. I was close to even turning it off. In the end, I realized that would have been a huge mistake, because I would have missed out on a great, little film.

Max Fischer (Jason Schwarzman) is in love with the school at which he attends: Rushmore Academy. He's the president of chess club, German club, and French club, as well as the founder of the dodgeball society, the Max Fischer players, and tons more. He's also the worst student at the school. As it begins to look gloomy for Max, things begin to brighten up when he falls for a first-grade teacher, Miss Cross (Olivia Williams). Unfortunately, Max isn't the only one who has his eye on the teacher. Mr. Blume (Bill Murray) falls for her as well. The two duke it out for Miss Cross' feelings as Max juggles with love, friendships, school, and a play about the Vietnam War.

I always thought of director Wes Anderson as a filmmaker you either love or hate. Not to say that I despise him or his films, but I just never really "got" them. I fell asleep during "The Life Aquatic" and although I liked "The Royal Tenenbaums", I wasn't thrilled or engaged by it. "Rushmore" works the best for me, mainly because of how focused it is. It's the observation of one character unlike say "The Royal Tenenbaums." Since this is the case, I have a better time trying to understand what the certain character is doing and why, instead of having to switch back and forth between many characters.

Jason Schwartzman is Max Fischer. Determined, caring, awkward, obsessed, and upset, Schwartzman does it all. Bill Murray is great as Max's enemy. The dialogue between the two is well done and never feels forced. Their dream girl is played beautifully by Olivia Williams, who does a remarkable job. The rest of the cast do fine as well.

Wes Anderson moves the story along at a fairly slow pace, which actually benefits the story. I particulary enjoyed the off-kilter editing that he employs throughout the film. I found it to be a nice parallel with Max's mindset in every situation that he is in.

Overall, "Rushmore" is a good film. As I said before, Wes Anderson is a director that you can either take or leave. If you enjoy his films, you'll certainly enjoy this. Even if you're not though, it's still worth checking out. It may move at a slow, deliberate pace, but it's got a great story to tell, filled to the brim with great characters and some solid direction.

Anderson's best film....
My former sister in law kept raving about this film, telling me I would love it. It looked like a smarmy, Gen X "ironic" movie to me, so I avoided it for a bit, but then decided to go see it. It is a brilliant, funny, honest, heartfelt film, the best film I've seen from Wes Anderson. It has great performances by Jason Schwartzman as Max and Bill Murray, and also Seymour Cassel (a Cassavettes veteran) as Max's father, Olivia Willams as Max's "love interest", and Brian Cox as the dean of Rushmore. Never does the film feel condescending like a lot of "hip" films during this time had a tendency to do. It doesn't feel smarmy or sleazy. In the hands of a "hip" director, they could have needled Max's character, mocking him and making fun of him. Anderson didn't. Wes (and co-writer Owen Wilson, who should write more) made all their characters like real people. And the film has one of the greatest soundtracks EVER. It is filled with British invasion hits, and the use of The Who's A Quick One While He's Away is truly inspired. Anderson gets major points for using the live version from The Rock and Roll Circus instead of the studio version, which isn't as good. Most of Anderson's work in general leaves me cold, but not this film. This is his best film in my opinion, a film of depth and substance.

Anderson's best film....
My former sister in law kept raving about this film, telling me I would love it. It looked like a smarmy, Gen X "ironic" movie to me, so I avoided it for a bit, but then decided to go see it. It is a brilliant, funny, honest, heartfelt film, the best film I've seen from Wes Anderson. It has great performances by Jason Schwartzman as Max and Bill Murray, and also Seymour Cassel (a Cassavettes veteran) as Max's father, Olivia Willams as Max's "love interest", and Brian Cox as the dean of Rushmore. Never does the film feel condescending like a lot of "hip" films during this time had a tendency to do. It doesn't feel smarmy or sleazy. In the hands of a "hip" director, they could have needled Max's character, mocking him and making fun of him. Anderson didn't. Wes (and co-writer Owen Wilson, who should write more) made all their characters like real people. And the film has one of the greatest soundtracks EVER. It is filled with British invasion hits, and the use of The Who's A Quick One While He's Away is truly inspired. Anderson gets major points for using the live version from The Rock and Roll Circus instead of the studio version, which isn't as good. Most of Anderson's work in general leaves me cold, but not this film. This is his best film in my opinion, a film of depth and substance.