Rushmore Review
by "David Wilcock" (david DOT wilcock AT btinternet DOT com)September 20th, 1999
Rushmore
Starring Jason Schwartzman, Olivia Williams, Mason Gamble and Bill Murray. Directed By Wes Anderson
Running Time: 1 hour 33 minutes
(Touchstone Pictures)
A strange whimsical love story, Rushmore has enough charm, wit and style to spare to rise it against it's predictable plot. It shouldn't work, but...it works.Schwartzman plays Max Fischer, a student at the prestigious school of Rushmore. Although he founded, or runs, nearly all of the societies at the school, his school work performance is terrible, and he is constantly threatened to be kicked out. Max falls in love with a new teacher Rosemary Cross (Williams.) Max enlists the help of Herman Blume (Murray) who is suffering the mother of a mid life crisis. But Max and Herman soon turn against each other as they both try to win over the heart of the confused teacher.
The plot is obvious from the word 'Go,' and sadly the film offers no surprises story wise. Rushmore also leaves answers to a lot of questions, principally why Max is so useless at school. But the quick pace of the film detracts the mind from these questions, and the whole movie takes over and charms. Wes Anderson adds a somewhat surreal feel to the film, with the whole thing playing like a stage play. Each scene is played in a charming manner. It's hard to describe how the film works, but...it works.
The characters are essentially a twisted and bitter lot, but it..works. Max is a horrible, horrible person, but somehow it makes sense that he should be the hero of this piece. But again his behaviour leaves a lot of questions open: his father is a barber, but Max tells Herman that his dad is a brain surgeon. Herman finds out he isn't, but nothing is said about this. Not even his dad seems offended. Strange. While on the subject of Bill Murray, he is excellent in this movie. This is Peter Venkman suffering married life at 50, and Murray handles the role well. In fact, he's pretty bloody funny, and although his character is a bastard, Murray makes it...work. Olivia Williams is a slight disappointment, but she handles the role well.
Some tinkling muzak plays throughout the film, which again adds to the charm. School life is portrayed well, including a big Scottish bully played by George Farish. There's some cute, straight out comic scenes, such as when Max visits his ill headmaster. Max also puts together some pretty amazing stage plays, which are funny in themselves. There's so many nice quirks that make Rushmore so pleasant to watch. Mason Gamble, previously known as the live action Dennis, is really rather good as Max's friend Dirk Calloway and Sara Tanaka is nice as Margaret Yang, who falls in love with Max.
Although the ending is obvious, the film has a fun time getting there, and so does the audience. Although it leaves a few to many niggling thoughts to make it truly great, Rushmore is a pleasant surprise, and will put a smile on your face. Rushmore....works.
RATING=***1/2 OUT OF *****
A David Wilcock Review ©1999
DAVID WILCOCK
[email protected]
Visit the Wilcock Movie Page!
http://www.wilcock54.freeserve.co.uk
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.
