Rushmore

Rushmore
Sycamore Public Library call number: DVD RUS
Rushmore Academy is a prestigious private school populated by rich young men - and a boy on scholarship, Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman). What Max lacks in the classroom, he more than makes up for as a member, or leader, in a plethora of extracurricular activities, to the point that he is about to fail out of school from the distraction. And that is before he meets and falls under the spell of the lovely first-grade teacher, Miss Cross (Olivia Williams). Max sets out to woo Miss Cross, only to discover that he has a rival for her affections: the father of his classmates, Herman Blume (Bill Murray).

Mick LaSalle, the San Francisco Chronicle staff critic, raved: "[Schwartzman's Max] has the comic mannerisms of someone who seems to have molded himself after a 1920s theatrical tycoon. We might not know anyone like him, but we can't help recognizing him as authentic. ... It's safe to say that Murray has one of the most emotionally layered deadpans of the century. To look at him is to recognize in Blume a fellow who, at his age, becomes lovesick and pathetic. He knows it and is sad about it, and yet sees the humor in his own sorry spectacle. This is a first-class performance."

Grade: B
Age Group: Adult
Classification: Entertainment/Fiction
MPAA: Rated R for language and brief nudity.

Reviewed by: Amy