Rushmore is one of the great films about growing up because it's about a kid not nearly as grown up as he appears. By giving their main character so many adult qualities, these filmmakers manage to emphasize how young and immature he really is in a dear yet unsentimental way. Unique, marvelously written and remarkably performed, this film is a joy to watch.
Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is the heart of this story. A 15 year old barber's son who's attended class at Rushmore private school for most of his life on an academic scholarship, he's one of the most amazing teenagers you'll ever meet. Like a dark-haired force of nature, he's the leader or a member of nearly every extracurricular activity on campus, including being the writer and director of the school's theater. With the help of his younger right hand man Dirk Calloway (Mason Gamble), Max is like the grand marshal and Rushmore is his parade.
About the only person Max doesn't have one up on is Dr. Guggenheim (Brian Cox), headmaster of the school and the one who gave Max his academic scholarship. For all his cool energy and ambition, Max is the worst student at Rushmore and gets put on academic probation. With that hanging over him, Max meets what will become the two most important people of his youth - millionaire factory owner Herman Blume (Bill Murray) and new Rushmore 1st grade teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). He sees Blume as the sort of defiantly self-made man he wants to be and Cross becomes the first woman he falls in love with. But then Blume falls in love with Cross and nothing in Max's exceptional life will ever be the same.
Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson came up with a sparkling and inventive script here, one that avoids the problems and pitfalls that plague so many small and quirky stories. While Rushmore only has a little bit more plot than the typical "here's some stuff that happened to people" film, it tightly focuses on the character of Max. We only see enough of the others so they can effectively play their parts in Max's story. Almost all of the important moments in their lives happen off screen and we only see the result on them when they re-enter Max's orbit. That focus sustains the connection between the audience and Max and leaves the viewer wanting to see what happens to him next. Most lightly plotted and intentionally clever tales tend to ramble, go off on tangents and fall in on themselves. That doesn't at all happen with Rushmore.
The best script in the world, however, is for naught if the actors don't deliver. These performers are more than equal to this amazing writing. Jason Schwartzman does an exceptional job with a character who understands so much about the rest of the world and so little about his own feelings. Max is a 15 year old hyper-achiever, the sort who will go on to do great things in whatever field he chooses. But at this moment in his life, the most important thing is that he's still just 15 years old and doesn't know how to handle his emotions. Bill Murray is also excellent as man who made something of the success that's in Max's future, but has sort of tipped over onto the other side of his life and now has to deal with how much of it is beyond his control. And Olivia Williams is great as the center point between Blume and Max. Max sees her as his passageway to manhood, but he can only truly get there by not getting her. Blume sees her as his path back to the man and the life he once imagined he'd have, but he can only get her by embracing the man that he is. It would be easy for an actress to get washed out in that role, but Williams shines. She perfectly reflects the appeal that Cross finds in the extraordinary boy that is Max and perfectly affirms that separation between boy and woman that has to keep them apart.
Rushmore is about how learning you can't get everything you want is the only way to ever have anything of value in your life, because only in moving past what you want can you see what it is you need. It's also damned funny. Go watch it.
Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is the heart of this story. A 15 year old barber's son who's attended class at Rushmore private school for most of his life on an academic scholarship, he's one of the most amazing teenagers you'll ever meet. Like a dark-haired force of nature, he's the leader or a member of nearly every extracurricular activity on campus, including being the writer and director of the school's theater. With the help of his younger right hand man Dirk Calloway (Mason Gamble), Max is like the grand marshal and Rushmore is his parade.
About the only person Max doesn't have one up on is Dr. Guggenheim (Brian Cox), headmaster of the school and the one who gave Max his academic scholarship. For all his cool energy and ambition, Max is the worst student at Rushmore and gets put on academic probation. With that hanging over him, Max meets what will become the two most important people of his youth - millionaire factory owner Herman Blume (Bill Murray) and new Rushmore 1st grade teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). He sees Blume as the sort of defiantly self-made man he wants to be and Cross becomes the first woman he falls in love with. But then Blume falls in love with Cross and nothing in Max's exceptional life will ever be the same.
Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson came up with a sparkling and inventive script here, one that avoids the problems and pitfalls that plague so many small and quirky stories. While Rushmore only has a little bit more plot than the typical "here's some stuff that happened to people" film, it tightly focuses on the character of Max. We only see enough of the others so they can effectively play their parts in Max's story. Almost all of the important moments in their lives happen off screen and we only see the result on them when they re-enter Max's orbit. That focus sustains the connection between the audience and Max and leaves the viewer wanting to see what happens to him next. Most lightly plotted and intentionally clever tales tend to ramble, go off on tangents and fall in on themselves. That doesn't at all happen with Rushmore.
The best script in the world, however, is for naught if the actors don't deliver. These performers are more than equal to this amazing writing. Jason Schwartzman does an exceptional job with a character who understands so much about the rest of the world and so little about his own feelings. Max is a 15 year old hyper-achiever, the sort who will go on to do great things in whatever field he chooses. But at this moment in his life, the most important thing is that he's still just 15 years old and doesn't know how to handle his emotions. Bill Murray is also excellent as man who made something of the success that's in Max's future, but has sort of tipped over onto the other side of his life and now has to deal with how much of it is beyond his control. And Olivia Williams is great as the center point between Blume and Max. Max sees her as his passageway to manhood, but he can only truly get there by not getting her. Blume sees her as his path back to the man and the life he once imagined he'd have, but he can only get her by embracing the man that he is. It would be easy for an actress to get washed out in that role, but Williams shines. She perfectly reflects the appeal that Cross finds in the extraordinary boy that is Max and perfectly affirms that separation between boy and woman that has to keep them apart.
Rushmore is about how learning you can't get everything you want is the only way to ever have anything of value in your life, because only in moving past what you want can you see what it is you need. It's also damned funny. Go watch it.