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As I watched this film, I couldn't help but find brief and twisted similarities between Max Fischer's school days and that of Edward Albee of 'Who's Afraid of Virgina Woofe' fame. Before you laugh let me explain:

Max recieved a scholarship for a play written in childhood, showed significant reluctance to follow the curriculum, and rather chose to pursue his own interests, especially play writing.

Edward Albee, in most of his biographical information, comments on his difficulities in school, and dropping out of college after about a year and a half, to focus on his writing. Further, Albee's work became recognized at the early age of thirteen when he wrote 'The Zoo Story'.

Max was not from the wealthy family as Albee was. Although, the greater than $10,000,000, Herman Blume, (dissatisfied with the conventional, insensitive , sterotypical jock, twins of his own) "abopts" Max as a surrogate son.

The father of Max was reminiscent of Thorton Wilder who encouraged Albee to follow his instincts and become a play write.

As we leave Max he has written his successful work 'Heaven & Hell', his stage production of 'Apocalypse Now'. At this point in time, this is Max's theatrical master piece, his 'Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolfe', if you will.

Also, don't forget the name of Miss Cook's deceased Edward Appleby...

Now, for those of you who have never been mistaken in reading the undertone of a movie, cast the first stone. I would welcome the comments. For those of you few that may agree, please let me know, possibly there are more correlations.





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One of the greatest films ever? I don't think that's an understatement, and I'm not just saying it cause I'm a Bill Murray fan and he happens to be in it. Granted, he brings to the movie his usual subtle quirkiness, but that humor isn't out of line with the general mood of the film. The whole thing is seriously funny and somehow seriously real, but at the same time doesn't always take itself seriously. Seriously. The idea of the movie doesn't come off sounding like a very captivating plot: high school geek and middle-aged millionaire fall in love with the same first grade teacher. Not exactly material for a high-grossing box office hit. But I don't think plot necessarily matters when it comes to making a quality film. It has a fantastic script, believable character development, and top-notch acting, and that's what counts in making a memorable film. Why do we love Rushmore? Max and Mr. Blume are the same person, Mr. Blume is just older and wealthier. They are both creative, romantic characters whose motives are ultimately selfish. My guess is if you appreciate this film, it's probably because you're the same way. This movie is about us. We are the boys who do everything we want to and nothing we're supposed to. The ones who go to college and get by on as little effort as possible, but somehow still pull through. At one point or another we all believed we could make our fantasies a reality, and watching this film makes us optimistic about those things again.

Also, I don't think a soundtrack makes a film, but it can certainly help set the mood. Yes, I have to agree with the other commenters for Rushmore: great soundtrack. But you already know that and it's been said a hundred times, so I think I'll just leave it at that and not beat it into the ground any more than it already has.

Right. Good movie, watch it if you haven't yet.

I think if you're looking for a straight up comedy, you'll be disappointed. This is not an easily classifiable film, but one that I love for its unique spin on some interesting characters. I especially like the fact that Max is not completely lovable, but in the end you root for him anyway. I found all the various reconciliations quite touching, and there's an interesting emphasis on friendships between people with lots of differences. Max's sidekick is younger than him, his crush is on a teacher much older, his friendship with Bill Murray's character who could be his father. Lots of heart here.

Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is an odd friendless teen at a private school with lots of useless extracurricular activities. He get put on academic probation, and falls obsessively in love with elementary teacher Miss Cross (Olivia Williams). He befriends an equally odd wealthy Herman Blume (Bill Murray), the owner of a pipe company. She dates Dr. Peter Flynn (Luke Wilson) which raises the ire of Max. Then Herman becomes infatuated with the lovely teacher and Max gets kicked out of private school.

These are truly uncompromisingly odd characters. They are a quirky unconventional group. They are not immediately hilarious but funny in how wacky Schwartzman gets. The dialog is sharp with a lot of unusual Wes Anderson takes. Bill Murray extends his range starting an acting relationship with Wes. It's a wonderful move forward for Wes and friends.

Having seen many Wes Anderson films before this one, it's harder to appreciate how fresh and original Rushmore was in 1998. That being said, I can still appreciate the great characters, idiosyncratic style, and fabulous soundtrack. Bill Murray owes Anderson a debt of gratitude for reviving his career and Anderson owes Murray for bringing some heavyweight comedic talent to his film and putting him on the map. Rushmore is definitely weird, but ultimately sweet and rewarding.