# Rushmore (1998)

### reviewed by
Berge Garabedian

    RUSHMORE
    RATING:  7.5 / 10 --> Re-watchable

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Writer/director Wes Anderson and writer/actor Owen Wilson take another stab at the movies after the critical success of their initial independent effort titled BOTTLE ROCKET. Nicolas Cage's real-life cousin, Jason Schwartzman, offers his big screen debut in this film, while Bill Murray finally finds an excellent script in which to rest his solid straight-man acting abilities. Think of this film as a quirkier FERRIS BUELLER of our day!

PLOT: Max Fischer is a unique high school student who has all the talent in the world, but cannot seem to focus on any one thing that he enjoys doing, besides attending Rushmore high that is. One day, he falls for a 1st grade teacher who appreciates his persistent adoration, but cannot reciprocate his feelings. Max's friend and rich mentor, an alumni of Rushmore himself, also falls for the 1st grade teacher, and unintentionally creates a childish "love war" between the two.

CRITIQUE: Quirky, unique, original in style, funny as heck, with some great performances put forth by the entire cast, this movie offers an extremely viable alternative to all of us who are sick and tired of watching the same old Hollywood comedies done in the same old boring way. This film has wit up its ying-yang, a tremendous soundtrack that goes perfectly with the black humorous tone of the flick, and a script that always has you wanting to see and know more. I did find that the last act of this piece was not as solid as the first two, the confidence seemed to be lacking, but all in all, a great show! This movie made me laugh out loud during several scenes, enjoy and smile gratuitously at various clever shots and moments, and fully appreciate the originality of a film that doesn't seem to come around often enough.

Bill Murray is amazing as the rich, indifferent old fart, who chain-smokes like it's going out of style, and carries a lit fuse right into all of his mannerisms. It's beautiful to see him finally chew into some material that accentuates his underrated acting abilities. Jason Schwartzman is also fantastic as the know-it-all, smart-aleck kid who carries around enough enthusiasm to sustain a thousand regular kids in any high school of our day. He's been given some great lines to work with here, but he delivers them all perfectly, and essentially, turns into Max Fischer. I don't mind saying that he reminded me a bit of a role by another diminutive actor by the name of Dustin Hoffman, in a little film called THE GRADUATE back in 1967. Let's hope that his career goes further than his mom's ever did . All in all, this movie's loaded with plenty of fun eye and ear candy, a totally creative script, some great performances by everyone involved, and a thoroughly original time at the movie theatre.

Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Actor Jason Schwartzman is the son of actress Talia Shire (birthname Talia Rose Coppola), who is best known for her role as "Adrian" in all of the ROCKY movies. She is director Francis Ford Coppola's sister, which essentially makes the legendary director, Jason's uncle. Seeing that actor Nicolas Cage is also part of the Coppola's clan, his father is Francis Ford's brother, Jason is technically cousins with Nic as well. Screenwriter Owen Wilson is brother to actor Luke Wilson who appears in this film as the pre-med student/companion to Ms. Cross, and Andrew Wilson who plays the part of the baseball coach. Both brothers also had parts in Owen's first written film, BOTTLE ROCKET, alongside Owen himself, who is also an actor in his own right. He starred as "Oscar Choi" in 1998's big-ass hit ARMAGEDDON (7.5/10), and "Gary Dixon" in 1997's ANACONDA, among various other roles. He was also an associate producer on the big 1997 Oscar flick, AS GOOD AS IT GETS (7.5/10). The director of that film, James L. Brooks, was the guy who backed the dynamic duo's first film, BOTTLE ROCKET, as executive producer. He is also "thanked" at the end of RUSHMORE. Actor Bill Murray claims that he's only read three scripts in his lifetime, which he did not alter in any way. RUSHMORE was one of them. GROUNDHOG'S DAY (7.5/10) was the other. And MAD DOG & GLORY (6.5/10) the last. At one point during filming, director Wes Anderson needed US$25,000 to shoot an airplane scene. Not within the budget, he pleaded for the money from the studio for a few days, but never got a "yes" for an answer. Bill Murray heard all this and decided to write the man a personal check himself, so that he needn't worry about money issues so much, and focus on his grand vision instead. Wes accepted, they shot the scene, but it was never used in the film. The studio never paid Murray back. Director Wes Anderson shot most of this movie on location at the prep academy that he once attended. He also used to mount fanciful plays there to entertain his fellow students. He once did a stage version of STAR WARS. Director Wes Anderson on his writing style, "I have a pretty rudimentary method for formatting scripts. I use an old version of Microsoft Word and just keep hitting tabs. Chop, chop, chop. At the end of the page, it might say the character's name and then on the next page are the lines that he says. Stuff that people say is wrong. So we have to retype it at the end. Horribly unprofessional." The kid who plays Max Fischer side-kick in this film, actor Mason Gamble, is better known for his role as "Dennis" in 1993's DENNIS THE MENACE.

    Review Date:        February 7, 1999
    Director:                Wes Anderson
    Writers:                 Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson
    Producers:            Barry Mendell and Paul Shiff
    Actors:                  Jason Schwartzman as Max Fischer, Bill Murray as
    Herman Blume, Olivia Williams as Rosemary Cross
    Genre:                   Comedy
    Year of Release:  1998Visit JoBlo's Movie Emporium
    http://www.joblo.com(c) 1999 Berge Garabedian

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