Rushmore Review
by Greg King (gregking AT netau DOT com DOT au)February 22nd, 1999
RUSHMORE (M).
(Touchstone/Beuna Vista International)
Director: Wes Anderson
Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Olivia Williams, Bill Murray, Brian Cox, Seymour Cassel, Mason Gamble,
Sara Tanaka, Stephen McCole, Luke Wilson, Connie Nielsen, Ronnie McCawley, Keith McCawley
Running time: 98 minutes.
Writer/director Wes Anderson is an audacious talent who possesses an unconventional and off
beat sensibility. Rushmore is the second film from Anderson, whose low budget, slacker crime caper
Bottle Rocket was widely acclaimed but performed poorly at the box office. In Rushmore he suffuses the
typical elements of the dysfunctional teen genre, the coming of age tale, and adolescent school comedy
with a subversive, wickedly anarchic spirit. The result is a refreshingly offbeat and inventive comedy that
at times becomes a little too clever for its own good. Rushmore has an edgy, surreal quality that sets it
apart from the puerile humour of most similarly themed comedies. The film's deliberately eccentric style
will probably hold more appeal to adult audiences.
Fifteen year old Max Fischer (newcomer Jason Schwartzman) is a precocious student at
Rushmore, a ritzy private school. Although quite brilliant - he can solve complex mathematical equations
quicker than that other prodigy Will Hunting - Max is also something of an obsessive under-achiever. His
grades have slipped because of his passion for pursuing extra curricular activities. Max is the president
and founding member of a number of clubs at Rushmore - bee keeping, fencing, chess. He even formed
the theatrical group that performs his offbeat plays, including a stage adaptation of Serpico and an
ambitious Apocalypse Now-like scenario. He is put on "sudden death academic probation," which simply
means that if he fails one more exam he's out.
Max is sort of like Ferris Bueller's evil brother - a devious, shrewd and manipulative schemer, but
without the charm. He is a thoroughly despicable character, and is never in danger of eliciting sympathy
from the audience. At times you want to strangle him, or shake him. Max's downfall begins when he falls heavily for Miss Cross (Olivia Williams, from The
Postman), the junior grade teacher. In an effort to impress her he attempts to build an aquarium on the
edge of one of the school's sporting fields. He approaches wealthy businessman and former alumni Mr
Blume (Bill Murray) to fund the project. The plan backfires, and Max is temporarily expelled from
Rushmore. Blume begins an affair with Miss Cross. The jealous Max begin a vicious campaign of
vengeance against Blume, which escalates out of control. It is the unlikely relationship between these two
eccentric characters that provides the film with much of its energy and humour. The wealth of
colourful incidents and wonderfully quirky characters suggests that Rushmore has been partially inspired
by Anderson's own experiences at school. Rushmore has a sophisticated and decidedly off beat sense of
humour, although the laughs are not always obvious.
The performers seem attuned to Anderson's off beat sense of humour. In an impressive debut,
Schwartzman delivers a strong performance as the thoroughly dislikeable Max. Murray is at his
smarmy, droll and laconic best, and delivers a wonderfully understated performance as the emotionally
damaged Blume, who is little more than an overgrown child in a man's body.
Anderson has an idiosyncratic visual style, which ensures that Rushmore is quite unlike any
other coming of age tale that you've seen. The quirkiness and originality of the scenario unfortunately
doesn't last the distance however, as Anderson eventually settles for a rather conventional and somewhat
unsatisfying resolution.
***
Greg King
http:/www.netau.com.au/gregking
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