RUSHMORE
Wes Anderson’s second feature (1998) has some of the charm and youthful comic energy of its predecessor <![CDATA[<i>]]>(Bottle Rocket)<![CDATA[</i>]]>, also coscripted by Owen Wilson, but it also represents a quantum leap. Jason Schwartzman plays an ambitious working-class tenth grader who’s flunking out of a private school – the Rushmore of the title – because he’s too engrossed in extracurricular activities. To make matters worse, he develops a crush on a young widow (Olivia Williams) who’s a grammar-school teacher there. His two best friends are a schoolmate who’s much younger and a disaffected millionaire alumnus (Bill Murray) who’s much older, and part of the lift of this movie is that it creates a utopian democracy among different age groups. Things come to a crisis when the millionaire becomes the hero’s romantic rival. Stylistically fresh and full of sweetness that never cloys, this is contemporary Hollywood filmmaking at its near best.
<![CDATA[<i>]]>(Chicago Reader)<![CDATA[</i>]]>
- Jason Schwartzman - Max Fisher
- Bill Murray - Herman Blume
- Olivia Williams - Rosemary Cross
- Brian Cox - Dr. Guggenheim
- Wes Anderson
- Owen Wilson
- Robert Yeoman
- Pawel Wdowczak
- John Nutt
- David Moritz
- Mark Mothersbaugh
- David Wasco
- Karen Paten
Buena Vista Pictures Distributions
