Product Description

A gifted, rebellious teenager finds himself in competition with a wealthy older man for a favorite teacher's affections.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: R
Release Date: 18-JAN-2000
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14367 in DVD
• Brand: MURRAY,BILL
• Released on: 2000-01-18
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 93 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Wes Anderson's follow-up to the quirky Bottle Rocket is a wonderfully unorthodox coming-of-age story that ranks with Harold and Maude and The Graduate in the pantheon of timeless cult classics. Jason Schwartzman (son of Talia Shire and nephew of Francis Coppola) stars as Max Fischer, 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

From The New Yorker
Wes Anderson's smart, refreshing picture is all about Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman), who is in the tenth grade at Rushmore Academy-or, to put it in Max's own terms, in heaven. He runs everything from the school beekeepers to the rather ambitious theatre group; he hangs out with Mr. Blume (Bill Murray), the father of a school friend; and, although his grades are woeful, Max compensates by falling in love with a teacher, Miss Cross (Olivia Williams). All is well until Blume, too, falls in love with Miss Cross; from here on, Max's world starts to come apart at the seams-not that you would know it from his big, blank, bespectacled face. The whole movie marks the triumph of the deadpan; Schwartzman is cautious but stubbornly optimistic, while Murray is possessed by the mania of near-despair, but neither kicks up much of a fuss. They make the best and most disconcerting odd couple that American movies have produced in a long while, and they lightly demolish the social hierarchy: how can Blume be Max's elder and better, when the child is so plainly the father of the man? Anderson finds the ideal comic rhythm for all this-sliding off the beat for a few surreal gags but always kicking back fast into the plot. As a result, what could have been merely arch or wacky turns into something more touching-a mature riff on the absurdity of growing up. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Sadly, this film lacks a keen sense of direction...
I am a huge fan of `The Royal Tenenbaums', but I couldn't rally behind `Rushmore' the way I thought I would. The acting was superb across the board, and the humor, when it hit, was hilarious; but there was just something about this movie that didn't sit well with me. I found myself wondering where this movie was going; what point it was trying to make. There are many scenes where it feels like this movie doesn't know what kind of movie it wants to be. Is it a comedy, is it a drama, is it an intellectual farce, is it a tearjerker; is it neither? I found the contemplation of the films intent to be tiresome and draining and thus I found my feelings for the film in general to be rather indifferent.

I wanted to like this movie, but I didn't.

The film tells the story of Max Fisher (an outstanding Jason Schwartzman), a young fifteen-year-old who is just making it at Rushmore. He is failing everything yet his indulgence in extracurricular activities keeps him active in the school. He's fallen for the young widowed teacher Rosemary Cross and become friends with Rushmore alumnus and industrial tycoon Herman Blume. When those two friendships cross paths though, Max's world comes crashing down on him.

`Rushmore' is heralded by many as a near masterpiece and is placed alongside classics like `The Graduate' as one of the best coming-of-age stories out there, but I sorely disagree. What `The Graduate' has that `Rushmore' lacks is a common strain of thought. Instead of focusing its attention on a primary subject, `Rushmore' seems to barely find its footing, skirting along various focal points, never really settling down to uncover the meat of the film. I found some of the performances to feel disjointed from the film because they seemed to be from a completely different genre. Case-in-point; Schwartzman is purely comic while Olivia Williams is pure drama. There is a scene where Max confronts Rosemary about his feelings, and her response seemed so unnatural when taken in the context of the film; it just didn't flow.

Bill Murray is the only actor who actually `gets' it. His delivery is comic, yet in that subtly dramatic way (as he was in `Lost in Translation') and it seems to elevate each scene he is in. He plays Herman with the perfect mixture of misery and humor. His performance is so good that I'm appalled he was denied an Oscar nomination, despite his winning several critics awards. This isn't to say that Schwartzman and Williams aren't wonderful (Schwartzman is really at the top of his game, and the character fits him like a glove; and Williams is very moving in her scenes and understandably endearing) I just feel that they contradict one another in their approach to the material.

I can see why some adore this film, for it has its moments of quirky delightfulness, but in the end I feel that it misses what it was striving for and winds up being less than one would expect. If it had some better direction maybe, or any direction, the film would have realized its potential and made good use of its stars. I'll admit that the final Vietnam War themed school play was a hoot, but for the most part I found myself to bewildered to enjoy the humor.

My Experience with Rushmore
Rushmore is a great film and ultimately one of the best examples of Indie Auteur Wes Anderson's work. This copy of the DVD is a great value for the $10 but isn't really enough for the true fan which I suggest the Criterion Edition.

The film is a great coming-of-age story as any of the other reviewers will tell you. Some of the other reviewers report Anderson defining the rules of film making which is highly debatable, as I haven't seen anything that strikes me as vividly as films by other film makers like Jim Jarmusch. This film is Anderson's first break out and perhaps his most original and interesting as if you've seen this one you'll easily recognize the style and humor in the rest of his films as he does not deviate much from his success but I do feel this film is important in the cannon of American independent film.

The performance by Bill Murray is my favorite, other viewers report this showing his largest range of emotion but I find it sticks to sarcastic quips and subtle humor but doesn't develop as much as his later films. This was his first real turn to the actor we see him as today lining him up for Broken Flowers, Lost in Translation and Life Aquatic. I do love his role and think he holds some amazing lines in the film. Jason Schwartzman is great and seeing him early in his career gives the audience a chance to see his development into the actor he's now known as.

The film itself is a comedy about a 15 year old in prep school, based largely on Anderson's experience with prep school himself which brings a personal touch to the film that helps develop the lead into a believable character. The humor as others have mentioned is sarcastic and subtle but the soundtrack brit-invasion as Anderson is known for and the movie is worth seeing especially at the $10 value. I feel the film gets a little more credit than it deserves but in all is a good watch.

Coming of Age, and All of its Pain and Glory
Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson wrote and created a film that is profoundly rich in its portrayal of multifaceted characters, three lonely and wounded people. I have seen many coming of age films, from comedies to dramas, from "Welcome to the Dollhouse" to "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". "Rushmore" is one of my favorites, a total standout with its own unique flavor and style. It is at times dark, quirky, funny, joyful, heartbreaking, and triumphant.

I can't imagine this film without Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray. They are both so good here. You can't help liking them, loathing them, pitying them, laughing at them, cheering for them, and hoping for them to find some thread of happiness. They start out friends, then enemies, then friends again but stronger. This film really is about friendships.

Max Fischer is easily one of the most fascinating and interesting characters I have encountered in the movies. He is a creative dynamo and yet he is flawed and vulnerable. Max is (pardon all the adjectives) witty, cruel, clever, resilient, funny, dangerous, foolish, brilliant, lonely, formidable, and damaged. This is not a character you've seen before in a film.

I was particularly impressed with one friendship in "Rushmore", which was that of Dirk and Max. I felt their history together; you just know they've been buddies for a long time, and have had many schemes and fun times... and when there was a big rift between them, I actually was hoping that their bond would not be broken permanently.

When it comes down to it, this is (for me) a love story about a young man and the time of his life. Rushmore is more than a school to Max, it is a time. I remember that time in my life, and I think that the fact that it has to end or change is rather sad and unfair (but inevitable). It's a heady time with so many things going on: changes, self image issues, first loves, learning, socializing, making mistakes, friendship, creating, failing, fighting, and slowly beginning to discover your place in life. "Rushmore" captures a genuine taste of this time.

I really wish "Rushmore" had become a TV series, an hourly 'dramedy'. It has a perfect setting and characters for that. The film left me wanting to see more stories involving Max and his world.