i know i began this actor tribute saying that i was going to list ten of my favourite Bill movies in no particular order, and that's been true. i haven't. but i need to make it very clear that placing Rushmore in the number one slot is very deliberate. i love movies like a (good) mother loves her children - she doesn't pick favourites. but if i were forced to pick only ONE film among the hundreds that i can't live without, Wes Anderson (and Owen Wilson)'s Rushmore would have to be it.
and it's not only because of Bill, because Bill is just one component that makes Rushmore such a perfect movie. so perfect, in fact, that when Bill first read the script, he wanted to be in it so badly that he said he'd do it for free. sooo, that should give you an idea of the amazingness of this movie. from the writing, to the soundtrack, to the details, the casting, to the eccentric look, Rushmore is absolutely superb.
Max Fischer (played exquisitely by Jason Schwartzman) is a 15-year-old student at Rushmore Academy, a private school for boys. despite Max's dreaming of being able to solve "the hardest geometry equation in the world" Max is put on academic probation due to his failing grades. what Max does excel at however, is in the many extracurricular activities he has founded and participates in. the montage of the clubs is amazing (clip below), and i especially love the shot of Max sitting in the go-cart as the Yankee Racers founder. Jason Schwartzman is just incredible in this movie. he is so deadpan and creepy and moody and strange. when Max falls in love with a teacher at Rushmore, Miss Rosemary Cross (played by Olivia Williams) i love it when he tries to charm her in the library with the pitcher of fresh lemonade and they have that conversation about their "relationship" - uh, AWKWARD. there are so many great scenes between Miss Cross and Max, especially when they are feeding the fish in her classroom, and when Max schemes his way into her home and into the bed of her dead husband, Edward Appleby. look at the books and objects and pictures on the ceiling, walls, and shelves of the bedroom - that entire room is just magical.
i love how this movie is framed (so many shots make me feel like i'm looking at illustrations from a surreal child's storybook). there are so many quirky shots through window panes, aquariums, car windows... or when someone is standing in a doorway, or leaning out a window, even with the months of the school year being introduced by opening theatre curtains. framing is also emphasized in Dr. Guggenheim's office, with the many painted portrait frames crowding the walls. one of my favourite scenes is of Bill (Herman Blume, the rich industrialist and father to twin boys who attend Rushmore with Max) at the twins' birthday. you see Herman sitting by the pool in his Budweiser trunks, bored and disconnected from the party, his family, and any of the guests. he's nonchalantly tossing golf balls in the pool and smoking a cigarette (look at the half-eaten cake on the table - the table itself is a perfect illustration of the who-gives-a-sh-t mood). Herman SO doesn't give a sh-t. he makes his way to the diving board with everyone watching, and before he cannonballs it in, he downs the last of his whiskey and tilts his head back - the shot is so nicely framed with the pool below him, and in the bottom right corner you can catch a glimpse of a little kid standing by the pool looking up. it's such a fantastic shot. then i absolutely LOVE it when Herman jumps in the pool and holds himself underwater to get away from everything and the little kid swims by (clip is below). it's very dreamy.
there are too many wonderful moments and details in this movie: i love that Dirk (Max's younger friend) writes the note to Max in Crayon, and Margaret Yang also writes her flight plan in Crayon. i LOVE the kite-flying scene with Max and Dirk - it's really quite magical. and then when Margaret Yang shows up and Max has a sort of revelation and tells Dirk to take dictation. it's so great. (it's also so cute that one of Dirk's ears is turned down under his hat. am sure that wasn't an accident.)
another great scene is when Herman goes to visit Dr. Guggenheim (Brian Cox) in the hospital is also just too funny. Herman looks like such a mess, and it kills me when he's in the elevator with Max and pours a mini whiskey bottle in the Diet Coke can that's in his suit pocket. he is so depressed. and looking at him holding the flowers looking hung over and lonely is so pathetically hilarious. or when the tree falls in the cemetery (which Max booby-trapped to fall on Herman). or when Max is in the gym of his new school practicing fencing ALONE (and still wears the fencing mask!). or when he's chatting with Herman on the gym bleachers as they watch the twins wrestling, and Max excuses himself and you suddenly see him wearing a wrestling unitard (!) explaining to Herman that "he's an alternate." OMG, the way Max stretches out his arms ready to wrestle before the whistle blows is f-cking hilarious. or when Herman goes to visit Miss Cross to give her the letter from Max. how Herman is standing behind the tree spying??? and then how he runs away after??? you must watch (or re-live). also killer funny is when Max is at dinner with Miss Cross, Herman, and Dr. Peter Flynn (Luke Wilson) - Miss Cross' date. i love how Herman gets Max a whiskey and soda and a drunk and jealous Max starts taking jabs at Peter - Max: "i like your nurse's uniform, guy." Peter: "these are O.R. scrubs." Max: "O, R they?"
and can we please talk about Max's plays? AMAZING. like in the production of Serpico, i die laughing each time when i see one of the actor's (Dirk) dressed as a nun playing the undercover cop tapping a phone conversation. it's so unexpected and ridiculously cute. Dirk is actually really awesome in this (played by Mason Gamble). when he's dressed as a wizard on Halloween and throws rocks at Max, or when he spits on Herman's Bentley for dating Miss Cross and betraying Max's friendship - in that moment, Dirk (otherwise very sweet and loyal and innocent) is SUCH a bad-ass. it's so sweet though when Dirk wants to make peace with Max and he goes to see his friend at the barber shop. when he gives Max the Swiss Army knife, wrapped in the pink paper? i LOVE how the piece of Scotch Tape on the wrapping has the little tartan strip (found at the start of any Scotch tape roll) - those small details is what makes Rushmore a very charming, creative, and fun movie to watch.
and the scene when Max offers one of his Rushmore pins to Herman is wonderful - he let's him choose between the punctuality or perfect attendance award. Herman says he'll take punctuality. Bill's delivery of the line is perfection. and holy sh-t - when Max goes to ask Herman for money to build the aquarium? the exchange between the two and the way Herman cuts the cheque and how Max takes it and slips it in his pocket is just really, really fast and funny. and i love it when Max decides he wants to help Herman win Miss Cross back. there is this great montage of Herman getting fit - like riding a bike with a cigarette, or training in his factory running with an iron pipe (and simulating his days as a soldier running in the jungle with a gun in Nam). i also LOVE the carrot scene between Herman and Miss Cross, when Herman goes to visit her at the house she's staying at. she's standing at the doorstep eating carrots and offers Herman one. the moment is amazingly sweet and awkward and funny and charming all in one.
the soundtrack is also just incredible. the songs are perfectly selected for the mood and moments of each scene. i especially like the song playing when Max goes to put bees in Herman's hotel room, and you see Max in the elevator holding the crate of bees from the Rushmore Beekeeper's Club, dressed as a member of the hotel staff. the scene goes to slow motion when he walks out of the elevator, and in that moment, Max is SO BLOODY COOL. i love the way he moves out of the elevator and sticks his gum to the wall. like, i would so be in love with him from that scene alone.
Rushmore is one of those movies that has too many things to list or to do it justice by writing about - the only way to appreciate it properly is to watch it. and when you do, look at everything - the books the characters are readings, what's behind a character, what characters are carrying or wearing or looking at, the pictures hanging on the walls (including the quick shot of the little kids gawking at the posters of the nude pin-up models backstage at the final play) - the movie is filled with such great STUFF and small perfect moments and shots. like the sign that quickly flashes outside of the fence of the public school - of no syringes, pills, or firearms? i mean, please.
[giving the speech in the chapel - typed on Blume Industry letterhead paper] "You guys have it real easy. I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you're going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you." Herman Blume (Bill Murray in Rushmore)
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