rushmore ( m ) . ( touchstone/beuna vista international ) director : wes anderson stars : jason schwartzman , olivia williams , bill murray , brian cox , seymour cassel , mason gamble , sara tanaka , stephen mccole , luke wilson , connie nielsen , ronnie mccawley , keith mccawley running time : 98 minutes . writer/director wes anderson is an audacious talent who possesses an unconventional and off beat sensibility . rushmore is the second film from anderson , whose low budget , slacker crime caper bottle rocket was widely acclaimed but performed poorly at the box office . in rushmore he suffuses the typical elements of the dysfunctional teen genre , the coming of age tale , and adolescent school comedy with a subversive , wickedly anarchic spirit . the result is a refreshingly offbeat and inventive comedy that at times becomes a little too clever for its own good . rushmore has an edgy , surreal quality that sets it apart from the puerile humour of most similarly themed comedies . the film's deliberately eccentric style will probably hold more appeal to adult audiences . fifteen year old max fischer ( newcomer jason schwartzman ) is a precocious student at rushmore , a ritzy private school . although quite brilliant - he can solve complex mathematical equations quicker than that other prodigy will hunting - max is also something of an obsessive under-achiever . his grades have slipped because of his passion for pursuing extra curricular activities . max is the president and founding member of a number of clubs at rushmore - bee keeping , fencing , chess . he even formed the theatrical group that performs his offbeat plays , including a stage adaptation of serpico and an ambitious apocalypse now-like scenario . he is put on " sudden death academic probation , " which simply means that if he fails one more exam he's out . max is sort of like ferris bueller's evil brother - a devious , shrewd and manipulative schemer , but without the charm . he is a thoroughly despicable character , and is never in danger of eliciting sympathy from the audience . at times you want to strangle him , or shake him . max's downfall begins when he falls heavily for miss cross ( olivia williams , from the postman ) , the junior grade teacher . in an effort to impress her he attempts to build an aquarium on the edge of one of the school's sporting fields . he approaches wealthy businessman and former alumni mr blume ( bill murray ) to fund the project . the plan backfires , and max is temporarily expelled from rushmore . blume begins an affair with miss cross . the jealous max begin a vicious campaign of vengeance against blume , which escalates out of control . it is the unlikely relationship between these two eccentric characters that provides the film with much of its energy and humour . the wealth of colourful incidents and wonderfully quirky characters suggests that rushmore has been partially inspired by anderson's own experiences at school . rushmore has a sophisticated and decidedly off beat sense of humour , although the laughs are not always obvious . the performers seem attuned to anderson's off beat sense of humour . in an impressive debut , schwartzman delivers a strong performance as the thoroughly dislikeable max . murray is at his smarmy , droll and laconic best , and delivers a wonderfully understated performance as the emotionally damaged blume , who is little more than an overgrown child in a man's body . anderson has an idiosyncratic visual style , which ensures that rushmore is quite unlike any other coming of age tale that you've seen . the quirkiness and originality of the scenario unfortunately doesn't last the distance however , as anderson eventually settles for a rather conventional and somewhat unsatisfying resolution . 
