Rushmore Review
by "Harvey S. Karten" (film_critic AT compuserve DOT com)October 8th, 1998
RUSHMORE
Reviewed by Harvey Karten, Ph.D.
Touchstone Pictures
Director: Wes Anderson
Writer: West Anderson, Owen Wilson
Cast: Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Seymour Cassel, Brian Cox, Mason Gamble, Sara Tanaka, Stephen McCole, Ronnie McCawley, Keith McCawley, Connie Nielsen, Kim Terry
There are two kinds of students who drop out of high school or get kicked out on their ear: the dullards who just can't cut it and are likely to be disciplinary problems; and the real brains, like chess champ Bobby Fischer, who are understandably bored out of their minds by instructors who can't teach them anything. Max Fischer, whose name is perhaps inspired by the chess wizard, is of the latter variety, an obsessed tenth-grader who expends so much effort spreading himself thin on extracurricular activities that he is failing his classes. "Rushmore," the story of Max's sophomore year in high school, details the yarn in such a vivid way that it stands as one of the most refreshing movies of the year. Though directed by a mature adult, it's the sort of story they annually try to put on in New York's annual Young Playwrights Festival but never quite succeed in conveying the polish that director Wes Anderson brings to a script written by him and Owen Wilson. Nor did the Young Playwrights Festival ever capture the spirit of an idiosyncratic 15-year-old the way first-timer Jason Schwartzman does.
Now, this is no ordinary tale of a kid whose brain and ambition are outsized for his school. Max's dilemma is that he's in love with a twenty-something teacher, Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams), who towers over him in height and poise but is barely a match for her youthful lover's attentions. What gives "Rushmore" its comic overlay is the presence of Bill Murray as millionaire steel magnate, Herman Blume, his rival for the affections of the first-grade teacher at Rushmore Academy, whom he convinces to build a huge aquarium on
the prep school's campus as Max's dedication to the lovely, bemused lass.
A perceptive movie audience will immediately detect the relationship between "Rushmore" and Wes Anderson's first project, "Bottle Rocket," a 1996 low-key comedy about two young, thwarted pals who try to embark on a life of crime. Like "Rushmore," Mr. Anderson's earlier venture is quirky but accessible: this time around he's likely to connect to anyone who has ever considered himself not an outsider but a person so inside that he consistently finds himself in a heap of trouble. It's also for a congregation for whom a film like "The Mighty" is just too conventional--for all its pseudo-imaginative images of King Arthur and his knights.
Anderson begins his story in a math class as Max, eyes glazed-over in Walter Mitty mode, fantasizes a solution his math teacher's problem--one which, the instructor informs the class--was not solved even by M.I.T.'s Dr. Leaky. After finding the answer (in his daydream) Max is filmed in various vignettes in his role as editor of the French club, and an officer in such diverse activities as fencing, debating, German, Astronomy and dodgeball. He makes the
acquaintance of Rushmore's chief benefactor, steel tycoon Mr. Blume (Bill Murray), who ultimately agrees to fund the aquarium in Max's--and later Blume's--sweetheart's honor. When Max is finally expelled from Rushmore, he goes into virtual combat with the much older Blume, a kind of love-hate relationship, a knight determined to conquer his foe and win his lady's hand.
Jason Schwartzman is ideal in the role of the nerdy guy who asserts himself everywhere, is overconfident (he convinces himself that he will apply to Oxford and the Sorbonne, with Harvard as his safety), with a toned-down Bill Murray fitting the role of an unhappy millionaire whose buddy- buddy relationship with a high-school kid shows that he wants a new start in life. (It's a healthy affiliation--after all, this is not a Todd Solondz movie.) Seymore Cassel stands in as a supportive father, a barber whose son passes him off to his friends as a neurosurgeons but who takes a large stride toward maturity when he ultimately introduces him proudly for what he is. Olivia Williams's girl-next-door role charms. She appreciates the 15-year-old's attentions while warding off his aggressivness, but is undoubtedly grateful to him for introducing her to the steel tycoon.
Incidentally as plays-within-movies go, you'd look hard to find a funnier, zestier example than the second-graders' reenactment of the Vietnam War which pretty much
concludes the show.
Rated R. Running Time: 91 minutes.(C) 1998 Harvey Karten
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
