RushmoreKids grow up so fast these days; in the case of Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman), they at least try to act the part. Rushmore is the story of the aforementioned Max, a 10th grade student at the illustrious Rushmore Academy. Rushmore is a private school largely for the upper crust, although Max was invited by headmaster Dr. Nelson Guggenheim (Brian Cox) due to showing great promise at a young age by writing a play. Max finds a poignant quote in a book one day, and discovers it was written by Rushmore elementary teacher, Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams), and Max begins to awkwardly court her. But when Max's older, married friend, Herman Blume (Bill Murray), ends up becoming involved with Rosemary, a feud of pranks and vehicular vandalism forces Max to reconsider if he is truly as mature as he thinks he is.
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Rushmore debuted in 1998, and was a breakthrough film for director Wes Anderson--his second film following Bottle Rocket--who also co-wrote the film with Owen Wilson. Owen Wilson's brother, Luke Wilson, also appears in Rushmore as Dr. Peter Flynn--a friend of Rosemary--and all three previously worked on Wes Anderson's first feature film. Rushmore also marks Jason Schwartzman's first collaboration with Anderson, and would continue to work together on other films, like The Darjeeling Limited. The point of all of this is that Wes Anderson's arc to acclaim is like that of Max; both are exceptionally gifted--if superficially eccentric--geniuses, who maintain a close circle of recurring associates and friends that return from time to time like characters in a storybook. It might be easy to overlook the significance of Rushmore on independent cinema. Anderson's signature style was first blossoming in Rushmore, and would become so endearing and appealing, that his most recent film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, was one of the most acclaimed and successful films of 2016. Watching Rushmore is like reading the kind of fantastic fables of Roald Dahl, which Anderson has said inspired to his film. Each month in Rushmore is preceded by a dramatic, even whimsical curtain, emphasizing the film's heightened sense of theatricality. This somewhat rebellious streak in Max and his penchant for the theater--plus his impish charm and occasional slips into profanity when feeling dejected--makes him reminiscent of Alexander from Ingmar Bergman's, Fanny and Alexander. Rushmore also boasts a rich collection of classic pop rock songs--many from "British Invasion" bands like The Rolling Stones--similar to the films of Martin Scorsese or Hal Ashby. These selections of music--and the accompanying lyrics--add an extra dimension to scenes, evoking feelings of melancholy or wistfulness at times, and whimsy or even flippant satisfaction at others.
Max's time at Rushmore Academy is sometimes presented in montage, like when we discover that he is involved in a copious amount of eclectic extracurricular activities. Many of these organizations were founded by Max of his own accord, but because Max is performing so poorly at school, Dr. Guggenheim is forced to impose ultimatums on Max one last time. These montages have a fantastic, somewhat unreal, depiction of reality--there is something about Max's presence at Rushmore that seems like the dream he has at the start of the film, a kind of self-indulgent ego trip. Max has been coasting on his genius for a long time, not to mention his erudite and sly ways of skirting his academics, but it is clear that Max's values are born from some deeper place. While trying to bond with Rosemary, and after he discovers she is a widow, he shares that his own mother passed away (from cancer). Considering that Max has a tendency to exaggerate the truth where his parents are concerned--for instance, he tells people that his father, Bert (Seymour Cassel), is a neurosurgeon, when he is really a barber--there is always the specter of doubt about Max's honesty. However, that he still visits his mother's grave--where he sometimes writes his plays on the typewriter she gave him--shows that he still mourns her loss. It is not uncommon for a very bright student to perform poorly when it comes to grades; in many cases this is due to the student being bored with the material and not bothering to try. But given Max's near obsessiveness with ancillary activities--the kind which got him into Rushmore to begin with--there is the sense that all of this is to try to impress his late mother. In a kind of Freudian way, Max similarly tries to impress Rosemary Cross, frequently disregarding what would be acceptable behavior from a student toward a teacher. In the midst of his maturation, Max also participates in tawdry rumors with his fellow high school students at Rushmore, like the foul-mouthed Scot named Magnus (Stephen McCole), about getting to third base with Mrs. Calloway (Connie Nielsen), mother to Max's younger friend, Dirk (Mason Gamble). It's hard to know for sure whether Max truly feels something special for Rosemary, or if he's just convinced himself he's in love with her out of a burning need to win her over. Rosemary tolerates Max's awkward, rehearsed advances to a point, but Max's indignation and jealousy is what ends up compromising their friendship. His ill-fated efforts to build a large aquarium on the baseball field in her honor finally gets him sacked from Rushmore, and sent off to a public high school. This jarring transition shows just how much of Max's former life was seen through the rose-colored glasses of his dreams--of what he believes his life should be--until the very real world stepped in.
What is interesting about Max is that although he is a mere fifteen years of age, he carries on with Herman, Rosemary, and others as though he were an adult, speaking with the same tones and inflections, the same interests and concerns. Even Max's young friend, Dirk, is also given to this predilection; it is as if the boundaries of age mean nothing in Rushmore when it comes to friendship. In a way, this makes Rosemary's rejection of Max appear strange (or arbitrary) when measured on that spectrum, although Rosemary rightly claims that the age difference (at least) makes anything between them impossible. While much of Rushmore focuses on Max and his misadventures, there is also a significant amount of attention given to his friend (and sometimes rival for the affections of Rosemary), Herman. Herman is a millionaire and the head of a manufacturing company, who gives a fiery speech at Rushmore which captures Max's attention. Herman likes the attention of the sophisticated young man, considering his two own children are a couple of stuck up brats who he dislikes. Even from the unusual family portrait he keeps in his office, there is a sense of dissatisfaction with life in Herman. So when it becomes clear that things for Max and Rosemary are washed up, Herman--being of a like mind with Max--begins to discover the kind of allure that Rosemary radiates, and ends up falling in love with her. A good deal of Rushmore deals with these two guys engaging in petty jabs with one another, fracturing what was once a charming friendship. Given how alike they are, there is also a sense that both Max and Herman are confronting their respective unresolved demons through their war with one another, which adds depth to what might otherwise be a lop-sided love triangle. As Rosemary observes, both of them are like two overgrown kids, each in a state of arrested development. This is more obvious in Herman, who retreats to alcohol and cigarettes, but in Max's case, he retreats from academics, keeping himself busy as an excuse to avoid the potential for failure. Max Fischer stands out as an engaging and complex character resembling a cross between Dustin Hoffman and Woody Allen--Jason Schwartzman's performance draws upon the kinds of neuroses found in some of these actors' most memorable roles. He is bookish with nerdy glasses, has an overly mannered way of carrying himself, and a sophisticated manner of speech which belongs to someone twenty years his senior. As we get to know Max--not easy considering his quickness to exaggerate--we discover that this is a facade, and deep down he is a sensitive, young teenager with very recognizable motivations, even if he warps these urges to try to make himself feel special. Max's exile from Rushmore is the real push he needs from the proverbial nest to see more of the "real" world for himself, and to really discover what he values: in friends, in romance, and even in his future.
Recommended for: Fans of Wes Anderson's uniquely stylized, storybook-esque films which merge comedy and drama into a fable-like tale. Max Fischer is a memorable character--an enigmatic loner and bon vivant all in one--even if he is still a teenager. The comedy is rich and the drama is touching, a potent mix that taps into a very human feeling of growing up, emotionally and physically.
Max's time at Rushmore Academy is sometimes presented in montage, like when we discover that he is involved in a copious amount of eclectic extracurricular activities. Many of these organizations were founded by Max of his own accord, but because Max is performing so poorly at school, Dr. Guggenheim is forced to impose ultimatums on Max one last time. These montages have a fantastic, somewhat unreal, depiction of reality--there is something about Max's presence at Rushmore that seems like the dream he has at the start of the film, a kind of self-indulgent ego trip. Max has been coasting on his genius for a long time, not to mention his erudite and sly ways of skirting his academics, but it is clear that Max's values are born from some deeper place. While trying to bond with Rosemary, and after he discovers she is a widow, he shares that his own mother passed away (from cancer). Considering that Max has a tendency to exaggerate the truth where his parents are concerned--for instance, he tells people that his father, Bert (Seymour Cassel), is a neurosurgeon, when he is really a barber--there is always the specter of doubt about Max's honesty. However, that he still visits his mother's grave--where he sometimes writes his plays on the typewriter she gave him--shows that he still mourns her loss. It is not uncommon for a very bright student to perform poorly when it comes to grades; in many cases this is due to the student being bored with the material and not bothering to try. But given Max's near obsessiveness with ancillary activities--the kind which got him into Rushmore to begin with--there is the sense that all of this is to try to impress his late mother. In a kind of Freudian way, Max similarly tries to impress Rosemary Cross, frequently disregarding what would be acceptable behavior from a student toward a teacher. In the midst of his maturation, Max also participates in tawdry rumors with his fellow high school students at Rushmore, like the foul-mouthed Scot named Magnus (Stephen McCole), about getting to third base with Mrs. Calloway (Connie Nielsen), mother to Max's younger friend, Dirk (Mason Gamble). It's hard to know for sure whether Max truly feels something special for Rosemary, or if he's just convinced himself he's in love with her out of a burning need to win her over. Rosemary tolerates Max's awkward, rehearsed advances to a point, but Max's indignation and jealousy is what ends up compromising their friendship. His ill-fated efforts to build a large aquarium on the baseball field in her honor finally gets him sacked from Rushmore, and sent off to a public high school. This jarring transition shows just how much of Max's former life was seen through the rose-colored glasses of his dreams--of what he believes his life should be--until the very real world stepped in.
What is interesting about Max is that although he is a mere fifteen years of age, he carries on with Herman, Rosemary, and others as though he were an adult, speaking with the same tones and inflections, the same interests and concerns. Even Max's young friend, Dirk, is also given to this predilection; it is as if the boundaries of age mean nothing in Rushmore when it comes to friendship. In a way, this makes Rosemary's rejection of Max appear strange (or arbitrary) when measured on that spectrum, although Rosemary rightly claims that the age difference (at least) makes anything between them impossible. While much of Rushmore focuses on Max and his misadventures, there is also a significant amount of attention given to his friend (and sometimes rival for the affections of Rosemary), Herman. Herman is a millionaire and the head of a manufacturing company, who gives a fiery speech at Rushmore which captures Max's attention. Herman likes the attention of the sophisticated young man, considering his two own children are a couple of stuck up brats who he dislikes. Even from the unusual family portrait he keeps in his office, there is a sense of dissatisfaction with life in Herman. So when it becomes clear that things for Max and Rosemary are washed up, Herman--being of a like mind with Max--begins to discover the kind of allure that Rosemary radiates, and ends up falling in love with her. A good deal of Rushmore deals with these two guys engaging in petty jabs with one another, fracturing what was once a charming friendship. Given how alike they are, there is also a sense that both Max and Herman are confronting their respective unresolved demons through their war with one another, which adds depth to what might otherwise be a lop-sided love triangle. As Rosemary observes, both of them are like two overgrown kids, each in a state of arrested development. This is more obvious in Herman, who retreats to alcohol and cigarettes, but in Max's case, he retreats from academics, keeping himself busy as an excuse to avoid the potential for failure. Max Fischer stands out as an engaging and complex character resembling a cross between Dustin Hoffman and Woody Allen--Jason Schwartzman's performance draws upon the kinds of neuroses found in some of these actors' most memorable roles. He is bookish with nerdy glasses, has an overly mannered way of carrying himself, and a sophisticated manner of speech which belongs to someone twenty years his senior. As we get to know Max--not easy considering his quickness to exaggerate--we discover that this is a facade, and deep down he is a sensitive, young teenager with very recognizable motivations, even if he warps these urges to try to make himself feel special. Max's exile from Rushmore is the real push he needs from the proverbial nest to see more of the "real" world for himself, and to really discover what he values: in friends, in romance, and even in his future.
Recommended for: Fans of Wes Anderson's uniquely stylized, storybook-esque films which merge comedy and drama into a fable-like tale. Max Fischer is a memorable character--an enigmatic loner and bon vivant all in one--even if he is still a teenager. The comedy is rich and the drama is touching, a potent mix that taps into a very human feeling of growing up, emotionally and physically.