Rushmore stars Jason Schwartzman as Max Fischer, Bill Murray as Herman Blume, Olivia Williams as Rosemary Cross, Seymour Cassel as Bert Fischer, Brian Cox as Dr. Guggenheim, Mason Gamble as Dirk Calloway, Sara Tanaka as Margaret Yang, Stephen McCole as Magnus Buchan, Ronnie McCawley as Ronny Blume, Keith McCawley as Donny Blume, Connie Nielsen as Mrs. Calloway, Kim Terry as Mrs. Blumem, Andrew Wilson as Baseball coach, and Luke Wilson as Miss Cross's date.
Rushmore is a film that is hard to describe. It portrays itself as a comedy, and yes there are funny moments in the film. There are also sad moments. Rushmore gives us Max Fischer, a student at Rushmore. He is the kid all students love to hate, he is a founding member or member of every club and organization at Rushmore. Except for his under class mentee, Dirk, he has no friends. He is the son of a barber, who received a full scholarship because he wrote a play at age 2. Of course he tells everyone his father is a brain surgeon.
Enter Bill Murray as Herman Blume, he is an industrialist benefactor for Rushmore. Max is drawn to him after hearing him speak at Rushmore. While Max acts well beyond his years and Mr. Blume acts below his years, it's a perfect match. They become rivals for the affection of a teacher that is a young widow. Max and Mr. Blume engage in reciprocal sabotage on cars, bicycles, and friends.
This film is hard to pigeonhole in a category. It fails in a lot of areas. It has a very thin plot if one can find it. Rushmore also has comedic moments, but does not deliver as total comedy. It has moments of the coming of age movie, but does not follow through. The acting is superb, great veterans and great newcomers. The over all impression I left with is that "I like it."
I give it 3 out of 5 plays: