Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay To continue my journey delving into films from the book “1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die” by Steven Jay Schneider, I will be discussing one of my favorite Wes Anderson movies. None other than the off-beat, late-90s coming-of-age comedy Rushmore.
[NOTE: This blog will contain spoilers for “Rushmore.” You have been warned.] The History Longtime Wes Anderson-collaborator, Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers, Midnight in Paris), has not only acted in several of Anderson’s films but has co-written three of them. Starting with Anderson’s 1996 directorial debut Bottle Rocket, Wilson went on to co-write two more of Anderson’s films: 1998’s Rushmore and 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums. Regarding Rushmore, Anderson and Wilson wanted to create a “heightened reality” in the spirit of Roald Dahl’s fiction for children but set in an elite prep school (both of them had attended private schools as kids). Both of them injected elements of their own life into the screenplay, specifically projecting them onto the film’s protagonist (i.e. Wilson was expelled from his private school, Anderson lacked motivation in school and fell in love with an older woman). Anderson has also cited films like Chinatown, The Graduate, and Harold and Maude as influences on this movie. Despite writing the screenplay with Bill Murray (Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, Lost in Translation) in mind for the character of Herman Blume, the middle-aged man who befriends the film’s adolescent protagonist Max Fischer, Anderson and Wilson doubted they would ever manage to get him to read it. Alas, Murray was so impressed with the script he agreed to take the role for what amounted to approximately nine-thousand dollars. This has really paid off for Anderson, who has gone on to direct Bill Murray in several more of his films from The Royal Tenenbaums to Isle of Dogs. After seeing the auditions of 1,800 teenagers from across North America and the United Kingdom, Anderson nearly gave up on discovering a teenage actor to play Max Fischer. That is, until he discovered the 17-year-old Jason Schwartzman (The Darjeeling Limited, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), who Anderson believed could keep the audience sympathizing with him in spite of all of the “crummy” things that the character did in the story. After filming in and around Houston, Texas (Anderson’s hometown), Rushmore premiered in the winter of 1998 to mostly positive reviews and ended up grossing nearly double its budget. More importantly, however, this film came to define Anderson’s unique cinematic style and made him a household name in the independent film world. Rushmore also inspired a renaissance for Murray’s career, who went on to become identified with independent films all the way up to today with his most recent role in Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks. The Pros The first Wes Anderson film that I ever saw was Moonrise Kingdom, and I was really impressed. I was under the notion that his films were too pretentious and artsy for my tastes, but this film caught me by surprise. So, I was excited to watch some more of his work. Unfortunately, I found that my notion about many of his films ended up being true. One by one, I was less and less entertained by Anderson’s style and aesthetic and was convinced that I would not end up liking any of his movies nearly as much as Moonrise Kingdom. But then I saw Rushmore, and it remains my second-favorite film of Anderson’s. I think what I gravitated most to in this film is the quirky world established through the eyes of its protagonist, Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman). The story of this eccentric teenager who becomes embroiled in a faux-love triangle with the first-grade teacher he has a crush on (Olivia Williams) and the middle-aged, lonely businessman that he befriends (Bill Murray) is shockingly endearing. In fact, when you boil this film down to its essential bits, it is Anderson’s characters that make it so damn tantalizing to watch. Despite being a despicable human being, Max’s youth and ignorance make him empathetic and someone that we hope learns from his mistakes by the end. Despite being a pompous businessman, Herman’s deep-seated loneliness makes him a sympathetic character who we hope can find happiness and come to good terms with his teenage friend. And both of these characters’ chemistry with Rosemary is somehow strange yet refreshing. Besides the characters, Anderson’s signature aesthetic is still in its infancy stages in Rushmore. While there are elements of his unique cinematography (due to the work of Robert Yeoman) evident in this film, Anderson has not yet fully embraced what would become his look as showcased in films like The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel. So, if you are turned off by the look of those films, you should not have much issue with Rushmore. The other thing that I really enjoyed about this film was its dry sense of humor. While I struggled to connect with the dry, sardonic wit of other Wes Anderson films, I found it to work very well here. Perhaps it had to do with my admiration for the characters relative to those in his other movies, but I think it works best when the characters are not only likeable but when the journeys that they go on are both entertaining and satisfying. The Cons Much of what I like about Rushmore can certainly be reasons why other people do not like it. In my humble opinion, this can be said for pretty much any Wes Anderson film. From one movie to another, you either connect with it or you don’t. So, you might find the characters to be annoying, pretentious, and absurdly unrealistic. Or, you might find the humor of the film either unnatural or it may escape you altogether. Either way, Rushmore is very much a “love it or hate it” kind of flick. So, what are my final impressions of Rushmore? Whatever your reaction to this film, Anderson’s quirky characters, odd world, and cynical sense of humor will stick with you. For me, it remains one of my favorite Wes Anderson films and one of the better comedies of the last thirty years. What is your favorite Wes Anderson film? Do you think Rushmore is one of his best or worst features, or somewhere in the middle? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|