Rushmore (1998) Movie Review

Rushmore – ABC Film Challenge – Comedy – R – Rushmore – Movie Review

Director: Wes Anderson

Writer: Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson (Screenplay)

Cast

Jason Schwartzman (Moonrise Kingdom)
Bill Murray (Ghostbusters)
Olivia Williams (The Ghost)
Seymour Cassel (Dick Tracy)
Brian Cox (X-Men 2)

Plot: A teenager at Rushmore Academy falls for a much older teacher and befriends a middle-aged industrialist. Later, he finds out that his love interest and his friend are having an affair, which prompts him to begin a vendetta.

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Rushmore starts as Max Fischer (Schwartzman) finds his place at Rushmore Academy in danger. He has been taking his classes too easily, he needs to sort out his school career. Max ends up making friends with an industrialist Herman Blume (Murray) using his ideas to expand his empire.

Meanwhile, Max gets a crush on teacher Rosemary Cross (Williams) leading to an uncomfortable position between the two. His ambition gets him in trouble until he learns about Herman’s and Rebecca’s new relationship.

Verdict on Rushmore

Rushmore is a romantic comedy following a schoolboy crush that ends up seeing everybody’s life around them change. It sees how he tries to win a teacher’s heart, only to learn the reality of his age is never going to let that happen.

Wes Anderson has always had a certain style for his movies. This showed early on that he always created a set-up for the big final and made everything come together in the movie. However, his style is a style that isn’t always the most enjoyable, as nothing ever feels as free as it could be. In the end, this is entertaining but not one of the great comedies many people it out to be.

Final Thoughts –Rushmore is an entertaining movie from one of the most stylistic directors.