After the cult success of his 1995 film debut Bottle Rocket, a quirky offbeat caper comedy. Director Wes Anderson was embarking on a promising film career after winning the 1996 Best New Filmmaker award at the 1996 MTV Movie Awards despite its limited release. With his co-writer and Bottle Rocket star Owen Wilson and younger brother Luke on demand as actors, Anderson was ready to work on his sophomore feature with Owen. Their second feature entitled Rushmore is a story of a young, ambitious high school kid who befriends a millionaire as they compete for the attention of a young kindergarten teacher.

Rushmore marks the first in a series of collaborations of actors (with the exception of the Wilson brothers along with several of Anderson's friends including Kumar Pallana) who would become regulars in the Anderson staple that includes Seymour Cassell and legendary Saturday Night Live comedy actor Bill Murray. The film also marks the debut of a young unknown actor in Jason Schwartzman, the son of late film producer Jack Schwartzman and actress Talia Shire, playing the leading role. Rushmore is a strong, funny coming-of-age story that also stars Olivia Williams, Luke Wilson, Brian Cox, Connie Nielsen, Sara Tanaka, Seymour Cassel, Mason Gamble, and Stephen McCole.

For 15-year old student Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman), Rushmore Academy is his life. Despite founding several clubs and being president in many extracurricular activities along with creating school plays, he is also one the school's worst students. Despite his huge ambitions, Max is also a liar claiming his barber father Bert (Seymour Cassel) is a neurosurgeon. After a warning to get his grades up from his headmaster, Dr. Guggenheim (Brian Cox), Fischer tries to fulfill his life with extracurricular activities with help from classmate Dirk Calloway (Mason Gamble). After business tycoon Herman Blume (Bill Murray) gave a speech about Rushmore where his twin sons Donny & Ronny Blume (Keith & Ronnie McCawley) also attend, he befriends the odd, precocious Max since he Herman is feeling morose about his own life as he is mistreated by his sons and neglected by his wife (Kim Terry).

One day when Max is in the library reading a Jacques Cousteau book, he sees that someone has written the book as one of the people checking out the book is the school's new first grade teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). Max has become infatuated with her as does what he can to help her while noticing that she's has a mini-aquarium. When he learned that Latin is going to get cancelled to her dismay, Max does everything to get Latin back and succeeds while Rosemary wonders what is his infatuation with her. To create plans for an aquarium near the town, Max turns to Blume for help as he gives Max some money to create some ideas as the two become friends. After presenting a play of Serpico that becomes a hit, Max is dismayed when Rosemary brought her college schoolmate Dr. Peter Flynn (Luke Wilson) to dinner with Blume as Max gets drunk and tells her, that he's in love with her.

Herman brings a letter to Miss Cross from Max as he apologizes while Herman has now become infatuated with her too. While Max's wild ambitions maybe over the top, his plans to build an aquarium for her near the school gets him in trouble as Guggenheim expels him. Max moves to a public school where he meets Margaret Yang (Sara Tanaka) as he tries to find ways to fit in despite missing Rushmore as he still wears his old school uniform. After encountering his Scottish enemy Magnus Buchan (Stephen McCole) who often teases Max about always talking to Dirk's mother (Connie Nielsen) and not getting anywhere with her as Max claims, that she gave him a hand job in the back of her car. Seeking help for his schoolwork, Miss Cross agrees to be his tutor as he improves on his grades while Herman finds nice company in Max and Miss Cross.

Then, the relationship between Miss Cross and Herman becomes more serious as Dirk sees what's going on. Once Max finds out, he is dismayed as he goes to Mrs. Blume to tell him the news as an all-out war between Herman and Max gets out of control when Herman's car got its brakes cut off as the car nearly kills the school gardener Mr. LittleJeans (Kumar Pallana). Max gets into more trouble as he learned that Miss Cross has resigned from the school and he falls out with everyone including Dirk. By then, Max gives up school and works with his father as a barber.

After a period of sadness, Max receives a visit from Dirk, who tells him that Guggenheim suffered a stroke. Max visits his headmaster as he sees Herman, more disheveled than ever as his life has fallen apart and he hasn't seen Rosemary in a weeks. Max makes amends with Dirk as he finds comfort in Margaret while trying to understand Rosemary's troubled feelings for her dead husband. Then, Max tries to pull off his most ambitious venture yet with the help of his father, Margaret, Dirk, and Herman Blume.

While retaining the optimistic innocence that was in Bottle Rocket, Rushmore is more rooted in melancholia and light-hearted humor. Notably of its three central characters, since they all have a sense of sadness around them. Max, is a kid trying to find himself only to be hit with sadness when he doesn’t get what he wants only turning to the grave of his mother. Miss Cross is a sullen woman who remains troubled by her husband's death and how Max reminds her of him. Then there's Herman Blume who is a man that has everything but is so morose by his lifestyle and everything he has, there is nowhere for him to turn to.

The genius of Rushmore really goes to the team of Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson for finding light-hearted sentimentality in the most offbeat places. They create characters that are flawed in their own ways, even in the most sympathetic of places while smaller characters appear for humor or dramatic purposes. It's a very intelligent coming-of-age story with characters developing into something more. With Anderson bringing in great scenery, his direction is very different from his previous film since he uses every eccentric idea for something that is light-hearted and humorous. Even in the scenes with the play, there is a lot of humor and small theatricality to it as it's Anderson's best work as a director so far.

Helping in the directing is longtime cinematographer Robert Yeomen who brings in a colorful look to the films in its interior sequences along with some wonderful, dreamy textures in many of the film's exterior scenes around the Rushmore academy. Production designer David Wasco along with wife and set decorator Sandy Reynolds-Wasco and art director Andrew Laws brings in a lovely, colorful feel to school of Rushmore with its dark yet natural colors while the stage production of Max's plays are a lovely spectacle. With Karen Patch bringing in some nice costume work, notably on Max's plays and the suit that he wears, the film has a nice look. With longtime editor David Moritz bringing in a leisurely-paced editing style that gives the film a smooth, offbeat film, the movie does not lose rhythm.

Another great element in all of Wes Anderson's films is the music with a great, off-kilter score from Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh bringing in a nice, jazzy tone to the film as well as harpsichord like arpeggios to play off the film’s innocence. Then there's film the film diverse soundtrack filled mostly with British rock music with stuff by the Who, the Rolling Stones, John Lennon, the Faces, Creation, the Kinks, Chad & Jeremy, Donovan, and a couple of cuts from Cat Stevens plus jazz musician Django Reinhardt and French singer Yves Montand. All of those tracks are used very well to convey teen angst as well as the film's lighthearted sentimentality.

Then there's the film's amazing cast with some great and small performances from not just Anderson's friends like Stephen Dignan, Dipak Pallana, Eric Anderson, Brian Tenenbaum, Andrew Wilson, and the always hilarious Kumar Pallana with his one-liners. Also memorable were the McCawley teens as Herman Blume's evil twins and Kim Terry as Blume's wife. While Anderson regulars Luke and Owen Wilson (the latter appears as a picture) only had small roles, Luke is generally funny as Dr. Peter Flynn while Connie Nielsen makes a memorable appearance as Dirk's sexy mom. Sara Tanaka is wonderfully exquisite as the sweet Margaret Yang as well as Mason Gamble who gives an excellent performance as Max's best friend. Stephen McCole is amazing as the curse-wielding Scots Magnus with his hilarious one-liners as well. Seymour Cassel is excellent in the role as Max's simplistic father while Brian Cox rules as Dr. Guggenheim with his tough but sympathetic performance as Max's headmaster.

Olivia Williams brings a calm, complex performance as Rosemary Cross with her maternal-like stature and melancholic tone as a woman who is trying to move on but only find her suitors to be like children. Williams really brings the sweetness and sadness of the film that is enriching. Jason Schwartzman is the film's real breakthrough as the precocious and ambitious Max Fischer. While Max may not have some likeable qualities, Schwartzman makes sure that Max is a kid that an audience can relate to in terms of dreams along with a sadness while trying to understand the world. Schwartzman is amazing and is really the soul of the film.

The film's best performance easily goes to Bill Murray. While it's not in the realm of comedy classics like Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters, Scrooged, and What About Bob?, Murray shows more of the same range as an actor that he did years ago in Groundhog Day. Playing the morose and self-loathing Herman Blume showed what brilliance Murray can do in making a very pathetic character into someone we care about despite his flaws. It's no surprise in why Anderson wanted to work with Murray all the time and it's his performance in this film is really a precursor to his greatest performance in Sofia Coppola's 2003 masterpiece Lost in Translation. It's Murray's approach to subtlety and offbeat comedic timing that makes the Herman Blume character one of the most memorable as he brings in great chemistry with Schwartzman and Williams in their respective scenes.

When Rushmore came out to film festivals, the film drew great reviews as it became a cult hit with Wes Anderson being hailed a new talent. Thanks to its oddball approach to melancholia and a killer soundtrack, Rushmore was quickly making nearly everyone's top ten list of the best films of 1998 with Bill Murray receiving loads of buzz for his performance as he won several critics' prizes for Best Supporting Actor. When Oscar nominations was announced, many were upset when the film was overlooked as was Murray and despite the critics' urging, Rushmore wasn't a runaway box office since it had Murray not playing the silly funnyman of older films. Still, more than five years after its release, Rushmore has become a true classic.

If there’s one film from Wes Anderson to start with, Rushmore would be the film to see first. It's among his best in the four films he's done so far but this is the one that shows his brilliance in idiosyncratic ideas with some tender, human moments. Thanks to a great screenplay with Owen Wilson and the amazing performances of Jason Schwartzman, Olivia Williams, and Bill Murray, Rushmore is a great film to see thanks to its coming-of-age storyline and characters that everyone can know and love.

Wes Anderson Films: Bottle Rocket - The Royal Tenenbaums - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Hotel Chevalier/The Darjeeling Limited - Fantastic Mr. Fox

Wes Anderson Soundtracks: (Bottle Rocket)- Rushmore - (The Royal Tenenbaums) - (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) - (The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions featuring Seu Jorge) - (The Darjeeling Limited) - (Fantastic Mr. Fox)

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older