Jason Schwartzman is a student at Rushmore Academy. He falls in love with one of the teachers there, Olivia Williams. So does tycoon Bill Murray. Directed by Wes Anderson.
Ah, pure magic! I watch it about once every year. Of the Depressed Bill Murray films, I think this is the best one. I was never that crazy about Lost in Translation, really. Good actors and direction, but a weak script. And what was that Lip my stockings about? Anyway... What a great cast this film has! Schwartzman and Murray are brilliant. There's Brian Cox and Seymour Cassel, and Olivia Williams... yes, I can understand why everybody was so besotted by her.
It's still my favourite Anderson film. The later films were more and more visually stunning, but also less interesting, the characters less believable. Rushmore is a quirky film, but you believe in the characters and care about what happens to them. Quirky is a tricky thing. Overdo it and it rings false, like in Garden State. I've wondered about directors who early have a strong voice. Do Wes Anderson or Tarantino ever write a script, stop and say, I can't write that, that's too Wes Anderson, that's too Tarantino? Because with that recognizable voice I would imagine there's always the risk of tipping over into parody. Not that that has happened. And I thought Fantastic Mr Fox was a return to form from Anderson.
rooo... décidemment il faut que je vois ce film.... j'adore Wes ANDERSON... j'ai vu tous les autres sauf celui ci... et d'après vos dire, c'est un manque !
ReplyDeleteBin, moi je trouve que c'est son meilleur film.
ReplyDeleteAh, Rushmore really must be his most accomplished film; I saw it when I was in high school, and it was a great film to relate to.
ReplyDeleteI was just about to ask if you'd seen Fantastic Mr. Fox, so I'm glad you enjoyed it. I defend the Life Aquatic is a fantastic film, however!
"Do Wes Anderson or Tarantino ever write a script, stop and say, I can't write that, that's too Wes Anderson, that's too Tarantino?"
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting question.
Hi Jason,
Jimmy
What did you think of the "Depressed Bill Murray film" Broken Flowers?
ReplyDeletePenrod-Pulaski, I found Life Aquatic to lack heart. My top three Anderson films would be Rushmore, Fantastic Mr Fox and Bottle Rocket.
ReplyDeleteHello Jimmy!
Tiny badass, I was a bit disappointed when I saw Broken Flowers in the cinema. Why hire Bill Murray and then wipe out all his Bill Murrayness? But I should probably get the dvd and re-watch it.
I think Tarantino fell into a sort of self parody with Death Proof, and he was got to close for comfort with some of the segments of Kill Bill. Anderson I think did it with Darjeeling Limited. I wanted to love both those films, especially Darjeeling, but just could not get into them. Trouble is that Anderson is best when he's writing with Owen Wilson and Tarantino is best when he's writing with Roger Avery.
ReplyDeleteRushmore however excellent, I also love Tenenbaums and I'll always love LIfe Aquatic even though it seems like people love to pick at that movie, I honestly don't understand why people are so hard on that one. You mentioned that you found it to lack heart, and I think I can see where your coming from on that one. I thought everyone in it was great, especially Cate Blanchett.
Jason Shwartzmen in Rushmore was never better in the part he was born to play. Have you seen Bored to Death? Its got Shwartzman in it and is pretty good.
"And what was that Lip my stockings about?"
ReplyDeleteJapanese who aren't particularly fluent in English will often make the mistake of switching Rs and Ls (I'm not certain why this is; I've read that the Japanese language has no Ls but if it did they would be pronounced like Ls? I don't know.) Anyway, "rip my stockings" would become "lip my stockings".