Rushmore is one of my desert island movies.
(Yeah, if your plane/ship is wrecked above the sea and you’re washed ashore to a deserted island, there’s gonna be a DVD Player, a TV set and an electric plug in that island. So you have to pick 5 films that you’re going to watch for the rest of your life. Play along with this premise, please, regardless of its many logical fallacy. Let’s move along).
My other desert island movies Singin’ in the Rain, Annie Hall, High Fidelity, and a tie between The Big Lebowski and a Pixar movie (and I’m still undecided between A Bug’s Life or Finding Nemo.)
I feel that it simplify matters to state this in the beginning of the review. I love this movie as much as Lady Gaga loves attention. And leotards. (Her, not me.)
I saw it on VCD years ago back when I was in high School, if I remembered correctly. The film was released on 1998. At that time, I was not familiar with Wes Anderson and his amazing idiosyncrasy. Of course, at that time the term “Wes Anderson’s idiosyncrasy” has not existed yet. Rushmore is his first feature film with wide release (Yeah, I know about Bottle Rocket.). But I do remember feeling that there’s something stylistically unique and striking in Rushmore. Something I haven’t seen in any other films - partly due to the fact that during high school years, all I saw was blockbuster movies with few exception of the good films that my brother recommended. But mostly because Wes Anderson does have a unique, striking cinematic style. (It deserves a blog entry (or a blog?!) on its own. So I won’t exhaust the topic here.)
Rushmore feels unique and striking because of many things: the cast, the performance, the set & art direction, the soundtrack, the cinematography (huh?), and the dialog. Especially the dialog. I remembered cracking up several time during the film when the actors said something out-landishly funny with dead-pan delivery. The one i remembered the most:
Rosemary Cross: We don’t have a relationship.
Max Fischer: But we’re friends.
Rosemary Cross: Yes, and that’s all we’re *going* to be. Well, yes…
Max Fischer: That’s all I meant by “relationship.” You want me to grab a dictionary?
Hilarious stuff.
Although I liked Rushmore when I saw it for the first time, my appreciation to it grows as time goes by. Over the couse of 12 years, I watched every Wes Anderson’s movie released and continue being a huge fan of his work (and Wes himself. Tee-hee.). I saw Rushmore for the second time last year and how I feel and think about it is different.
My high-school self kinda hates Max Fischer’s gut: He’s a wuss and kind of a cry-baby. He screws up and punishes people for that. What a self-righteous little prick. But he’s kind of cute that way. Tee-hee <3
My current self (I was about to type ‘my grown-up self’ but that’s a bit arguable) has a soft-spot for Max Fischer. He’s actually a good kid and also smart,he’s just kind of lost in his ways. In addition, he’s practically the puppy-eyed version of Holden Caulfield. Holden..puppy..what’s not to like?
Max Fischer is a sophomore student in a private prep-school called Rushmore. He has tons of whimsy extracurricular activity (Bee Keeping society!), leads and even initiates some of them. He carries himself with this peculiar air - a mix between grandeur and naivete. Like any important figures in history, he has a lackey assistant who keeps his calendar and takes note of what he says. (Bonus awesomeness point: the assistant, Dirk Calloway, is Dennis the Menace!).
But all these extracurricular activities has made his grades slipped. The principal implements an “academic sudden-death” to him, meaning that he’ll be expelled from the prestigious school if his grades don’t pick up. To complicate matters: enters Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams), a teacher that Max falls head-over-heels for, because of her scribbles in a library books about ocean life (a JJ Costeau’s quote). There’s no reciprocity as Miss Cross never sees Max as more than a kid with an amusing quirk. But nothing as unsubstantial as that could stop someone as driven as Max Fischer. (He saved Latin class from being erased, just because he thought Miss Cross would appreciate that, given that Miss Cross thesis is on Latin America Economic Policies. Errrr. Misguided, but sweet nonetheless.)
There’s also Herman Blume (Bill Murray), a rich business man with a steel factory and a failing marriage, whose Neanderthal twin sons studied at Rushmore. Max befriended Mr Blume because he admires Mr Blume’s speech (” …[Rich boys] can buy anything but they can’t buy backbone…”). There is reciprocity in this relationship, as Mr Blume admires Max’s ambition and initiative - perhaps he wishes his sons are more like Max. But there’s also a common interest between Max and Mr Blume that turns them into rivals: Miss Cross. Both men fights for her attention - each with his own twisted way. The rivalry grows nastier and the casualty becomes bigger. It’s also extremely funny.
But the love triangle is not the focus of the film. In its heart, Rushmore is coming-of-age tale about a boy name Max Fischer. And that’s why I love this film. The character, despite of his not-so-innocent mischief, is so damn likeable. Sure, he attacks people with crates of angry bee and fakes accidents to manipulate his way into a woman’s bedroom, but by golly..you want good things to happen to him!
Bill Murray has a career-reviving role as the dull, cynical but kind-hearted Mr Blume. Jason Schwartzman also did a tremendous job to make Max Fischer comes alive. This debut performance even defines his career - I think all roles he had ever since is essentially Max Fischer (eg: Ash Fox = Max Fisher with fur). (I don’t mind this typecast because he’s so damn good in every single one.)
There’s so many bits and pieces that I also love: The montage scene showing Max’s various activities, the school play that Max directed, his banter with the Scottish bully, The Kinks’ song “Nothing Can Stop Me From Worrying About This Girl” and the scene that comes with it.
In entirety, every single thing in this film is perfect.
It’s seminal, destined for bigger things - just like Max Fischer is.
