Rushmore DVD > Reviews > Rushmore

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Intelligent, great performances, quirky .
Disadvantages:	A little on the short side .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I have this kind of love-hate relationship with Wes Anderson films. This certainly hasn't been helped by the way that I've watched his films backwards. Not literally of course, but the order of them. Starting with The Royal Tenenbaums, a film that I found incredibly disappointing as I thought it would be something I'd love. After that I avoided any further Anderson films for a while, until finally I relented and gave Rushmore a go. I was very happy that I did, as it's a film I enjoyed immensely and felt saddened that I didn't give it a chance earlier.

Rushmore focuses on Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman), an intelligent student, but one who has little interest in actually studying. Instead he pours himself into the various clubs at his school, from beekeeping, to fencing, to having his own theatre group. Things become a little more complicated when Max falls for a teacher at the school (Olivia Williams) at the same time his millionaire friend (Bill Murray) does the same thing.

The basic story in itself separates Rushmore from the generic teen dramas or comedies, but the film itself has so much more to offer. Max is a particularly interesting character, as the viewer ends up hating him at times for the way he acts (see the dinner party scene) and yet seems to end up caring about what happens to him. This is largely down to Schwartzman's performance, something that is aided by an excellent supporting cast around him. Before Lost In Translation, this was Bill Murray's finest performance, his jaded millionaire having a depth not offered to characters in many films. Williams is also excellent, breaking out from the generic kind of roles she usually ends up playing. Despite this though, the film is completely Schwartzman's show. The film ends up being a masterpiece in character performance.

The film also stands out in a number of other areas. I'm not usually one to pay much attention to soundtracks usually, and yet this one managed to grab me. Using great tracks by The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Faces and a number of other excellent bands really helped set the tone of the film, and was a pleasant surprise over the usual pop drivel that populates teen films.

I honestly can't praise this film enough, although a lot of it is probably down to it just offering something completely different from the usual teen film formula. It's funny, it's dramatic, and yet it never resorts to cliches, stupidity, or predictable events.