General Information
Directed by – Wes Anderson
Written by – Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson
Release Year – 1998
Starring – Jason Schwartzman (Max Fischer), Bill Murray (Herman Blume), Olivia Williams (Rosemary Cross), Seymour Cassel (Bert Fischer), Sara Tanaka (Margaret Yang) and Luke Wilson (Peter Flynn)
Synopsis – On the verge of getting expelled from Rushmore, falling in love with the new teacher, and befriending a millionaire, Max Fischer is in for an interesting school year.
Review
After the success of “Bottle Rocket”, Wes Anderson followed it up with a film that continued to elevate his career as a filmmaker. Reviving the career of Bill Murary and launching Jason Schwartzman as an actor, “Rushmore” cemented Anderson as one to watch.
Max Fischer (Schwartzman) is the most involved student at Rushmore Academy, but not the most academic. He is threatened with expulsion, but that does not keep him down. He befriends the father of twins in his class (Bill Murray) who takes him under his wing. But that friendship falls apart when they both develop a crush on the new first grade teacher, Rosemary (Williams).
Compared to Bottle Rocket, Rushmore feels a lot more like a classic Wes Anderson film. We still haven’t reached full Wes yet, but with the delivery of character lines, the cinematography, and the first of many montages it would not be surprising if some people assumed this was Anderson’s debut film. Title cards between scenes have also been introduced, which is one of my personal favorite touches of any of his films. You can tell that he wanted to start standing out as an auteur and go away from the more traditional style of movie making he utilized in his first film.
Max as a main character perfectly encapsulates what it means to be an over-enthusiastic teenage boy. You want to be involved in everything to make a name for yourself. At this point in your life, you are in this weird in-between place where you are no longer completely at the whim of your parents but also discovering who you want to be before you are completely on your own. Being a teenager can be a lonely experience even when you are surrounded by those you love and care for. Your emotions and hormones are also all over the place that it is not insane that Max falls in love with the new teacher. While inappropriate as he continues to pursue her after her constant rejections, he learns some tough lessons when it comes to love and loss that every teenager needs to experience.
It is also inspiring to see how involved Max wants to be with his extracurricular activities. Not only is he an active participant in clubs like Model U.N. and a variety of sports, but he also runs and creates clubs seemingly every other day. If you are of the millennial and older gen-z age range, you have probably been told over and over that colleges want to see students who are the most involved inside and outside of school because that will be your best way of getting into the school of your dreams. While it is good to be a well-rounded individual, it comes at a detriment to Max’s grades. To stay in Rushmore Academy, you need to maintain a certain grade point average and Max falls below that because of being too involved. It is a double edged sword I still see as a teacher today; kids are trying to be this “perfect” student, sacrificing important things like sleep, mental and physical health, and potentially their sanity. This can be seen through Max and how he has this desire to be seen as perfect, but parts of him are being sacrificed.
One of the aspects of a classic Wes Anderson film that we first see here is the mentor-mentee relationship. Usually between an adult man and teenage boy, they form a bond based on either proximity or similar interests. We see this relationship form between Max and Bill Murray’s character of millionaire Herman Blume. Not only is he the father of some of Max’s peers, but Max finds inspiration in him as an underdog. Max doesn’t fit in with the other rich kids and Blume is that shining light in his life. They form a bond that allows each to be fully themselves. However, they become too similar to each other as they begin to fall for the same woman at the school, Rosemary. This puts a riff in their relationship, starting a prank war montage. It comes across as a silly feud, but something Anderson puts in his movies a lot is the theme of being lost. Both are lost in the world – not sure what their place is – and they are able to find solace in this one crush. The chemistry between Schwartzman and Murray make their scenes so enjoyable to watch, whether they are connecting with each other or hating each other. It makes you want to root for them to get over their silly feud so they can have more happy scenes together. If one of them was cast differently, it would have taken away from this film’s natural charm and charisma.
With a much better flow and pacing compared to his first film, Anderson gives us a heartfelt and quirky story about what it means to find friendships while also finding yourself. A lot of classic Wes is felt in this film, and it is always an enjoyable watch from the moment you hit play.
