Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Olivia Williams, Bill Murray, Seymour Cassel, Brian Cox, Mason Gamble, Brian Cox, Luke Wilson, Andrew Wilson

Director: Wes Anderson

Summary: Director Wes Anderson's follow-up to the acclaimed BOTTLE ROCKET is a funny, warmhearted, and extremely sharp American response to the English Angry Young Man films of the 1960s, right down to its British Invasion soundtrack. Newcomer Jason Schwartzman creates a classic protagonist in Max Fischer, a sophomore at Rushmore Academy. He excels at every extracurricular activity in school, from theater to beekeeping. Gradewise, however, he's failing. He has few friends outside school save for wealthy but depressed industrialist Herman Blume (Bill Murray), father of obnoxious twin boys who also attend Rushmore. Enter Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams), a beautiful young widowed teacher at Rushmore Elementary. While Max is immediately smitten with Miss Cross, she finds comfort in the company of the emotionally frazzled Blume. But Max won't let Blume have Miss Cross without a fight.<BR>Anderson and cowriter Owen Wilson have created a script brimming with oddball humor at the surface, but at its core lies just enough realistic pain and disappointment to create an all-too-rare bittersweet edge, striking a subtle balance that few films ever achieve, and finally giving national treasure Bill Murray the chance to shine like never before. As director, Anderson displays his exceptional talents with careful choices in color palette, effective use of slow motion to comedic effect, and, most important, a brilliant selection of offbeat songs that are integral to the story. Easily one of the finest comedies since THE GRADUATE, RUSHMORE is a monument to brilliant filmmaking.

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Wes Anderson's follow-up to the quirky Bottle Rocketis a wonderfully unorthodox coming-of-age story that ranks with Harold and Maudeand The Graduatein the pantheon of timeless cult classics. Jason Schwartzman (son of Talia Shire and nephew of Francis Coppola) stars as Max Fisher, a 15-year-old attending the prestigious Rushmore Academy on scholarship, where he's failing all of his classes but is the superstar of the school's extracurricular activities (head of the drama club, the beekeeper club, the fencing club...). Possessing boundless confidence and chutzpah, as well as an aura of authority he seems to have been born with, Max finds two unlikely soulmates in his permutations at Rushmore: industrial magnate and Rushmore alumnus Herman Blume (Bill Murray) and first-grade teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). His alliance with Blume and crush on Miss Cross, however, are thrown out of kilter by his expulsion from Rushmore, and a budding romance between the two adults that threatens Max's own designs on the lovely schoolteacher.

Never stooping to sentimentality or schmaltz, Anderson and cowriter Owen Wilson have fashioned a wickedly intelligent and wildly funny tale of young adulthood that hits all the right notes in its mix of melancholy and optimism. As played by Schwartzman, Max is both immediately endearing and ferociously irritating: smarter than all the adults around him, with little sense of his shortcomings, he's an unstoppable dynamo who commands grudging respect despite his outlandish projects (including a school play about Vietnam). Murray, as the tycoon who determinedly wages war with Max for the affections of Miss Cross, is a revelation of middle-aged resignation. Disgusted with his family, his life, and himself, he's turned around by both Max's antagonism and Miss Cross's love. Williams is equally affecting as the teacher who still carries a torch for her dead husband, and the superb supporting cast also includes Seymour Cassel as Max's barber father, Brian Cox as the frustrated headmaster of Rushmore, and a hilarious Mason Gamble as Max's young charge. Put this one on your shelf of modern masterpieces. --Mark Englehart

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Year:	1998
Release Date:	June 15, 2006
Runtime:	89 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	B E D 888257
Keywords:	General, Drama, Rushmore
Genre:	Drama