Rushmore

Returning to the films of 1999, I turn to Rushmore, which was really released at the tail end of 1998. It is set in a high school, but is not a high school movie. Instead it is about much more than that.

One of my favorite films, it introduced most of us to the quirky world of Wes Anderson. It was his second film, after Bottle Rocket, but the first of his I saw. Most of the Anderson tics are there--characters moving in slow motion to the tune of a winsome pop song, an almost fussy attention to detail, and characters who are unmoored in life.

Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is a fifteen-year-old student at Rushmore Academy (the school was based on one that Anderson attended in Houston). He is in several extracurricular activities, ranging from beekeeping to fencing to his own theatrical troupe. This means he is failing his courses, though. He is precocious and probably a genius. When he hears Herman Blume (Bill Murray) give a speech (he says, "Take aim a the rich boys") he befriends the man, who is a self-loathing, self-made millionaire who finds something inspiring in Max's guilelessness.

The two come at odds when they both fall in love with Miss Cross (Olivia Williams, an elementary school teacher who is still in love with her deceased husband). Schwartzman and Murray have something of a war of pranks, which leads to Schwartzman cutting Murray's car's brakes.

What makes Rushmore so great is its big heart, which swells to a size that nears mawkishness but doesn't burst. There is plenty of sentiment--look at Murray's face when he meets Schwartzman's father (Seymour Cassel), whom he thought was a neurosurgeon but is instead a humble barber--which gets the tear ducts working. But Rushmore is also drolly funny. Anderson, who co-wrote the script with Owen Wilson, has a way of making certain lines, which out of context seem drab, stand out. For example, when Schwartzman confronts Murray about his affair with Williams, he says, "I saved Latin. What did you ever do?" or when, making peace, he offers Murray a choice of achievement pins--perfect attendance or punctuality. Murray, without even considering this is absurd, says, "I'll take punctuality."

This is one of Murray's first film roles that showed he is a terrific actor. He is still the deadpan Bill Murray we all know, but there is a deeply felt character beneath it. When Schwartzman sics bees on Murray in his hotel room, Murray can't help but admire the boy's gumption. Williams, who plays a kind of idealized fantasy for males of all ages, is also imbued with a depth that most films wouldn't give her. If she was real I'd fall in love with her, too.

There is so much to love about Rushmore, from Max's plays (one is an adaptation of Serpico) to the character of Dirk (Mason Gamble), who is Max's right-hand man, but is betrayed, and ends up throwing rocks at Max while wearing a Halloween costume (he's a wizard). Max just can't be held down, and neither can the film.