Rushmore (1998)
Average Rating: 7.8/10
Reviews Counted: 85
Fresh: 74 | Rotten: 11
This cult favorite is a quirky coming of age story, with fine, off-kilter performances from Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray.
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Critic Reviews: 18
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 4
This cult favorite is a quirky coming of age story, with fine, off-kilter performances from Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 163,084
My Rating
Movie Info
After the highly acclaimed independent film Bottle Rocket, director Wes Anderson followed up with a quirky Touchstone Studios film entitled Rushmore. Written by Anderson and friend Owen Wilson (an actor in Armageddon and Anaconda), they created the story of Max Fischer, a highly eccentric 15-year-old boy who attends the tenth grade at Rushmore Academy. Played by Jason Schwartzman (Talia Shire's son and Francis Ford Coppola's nephew), Max is a poor student with big dreams and a love of
Sep 17, 1998 Wide
Jun 29, 1999
Touchstone Pictures
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Jason Schwartzman
Max Fischer -
Bill Murray
Herman Blume -
Olivia Williams
Rosemary Cross -
Seymour Cassel
Bert Fischer -
Brian Cox
Dr. Guggenheim -
Mason Gamble
Dirk Calloway -
Sara Tanaka
Margaret Yang -
Stephen McCole
Magnus Buchan -
Ronnie McCawley
Ronny Blume -
Keith McCawley
Donny Blume -
Connie Nielsen
Mrs. Calloway -
Kim Terry
Mrs. Blume -
Ed Geldart
Security Guard -
Luke Wilson
Dr. Peter Flynn -
Kumar Pallana
Mr. LittleJeans
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (87) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (77) | Rotten (12) | DVD (26)
The director treats eccentricity with compassionate respect: no winking, no nudges to even like the boy. The filmmaking, meanwhile, is beautifully disciplined.
You also have to admire the creepy arrogance of Schwartzman's performance.
What I wanted was a larger perspective, something more insightful than the one-thing-after-another existential whimsy.
A wickedly funny high school comedy for most of its running time, Rushmore is a bracingly fresh and original outing.
A peculiar, poignant comedy, with an outstanding character turn from Murray.
This film is so not-from-the-cookie-cutter, so unaccommodating of our expectations, that we can't anticipate where Anderson's going to take us. Every scene is a discovery or sly diversion.
Top CriticBill Murray projects a seriocomic intensity here comparable to Charlie Chaplin's classic Little Tramp.
Rushmore may have shades of J.D. Salinger's writing and Hal Ashby's movies, but Wes Anderson pulls humor from the trickiest of situations and always manages to surprise.
Criterion's stellar reputation for Blu-ray releases continues unabated by their phenomenal treatment of Wes Anderson's first masterpiece, a sublime comedy about death, ghosts, ambition, and hubris.
Probably of more interest to adults than to teens.
Besides being a terrific film in its own right, seen today, Rushmore almost seems like a trailer for the films that have followed it.
An observation on what happens when the world of children and adults collide, perfectly embodied in Schwartzman's performance.
To paraphrase Herman Blume, Rushmore is my Rushmore.
Moments of classic slapstick rubbing elbows with moments of painful candor.
Another quirky, hard-to-put-your-finger-on delight from the boys who brought us Bottle Rocket.
It's nice to see that there are still comedies out there that don't need to resort to gross-out humor for a laugh.
Anderson is unable to frame an uninteresting shot.
It's a better coming of age movie than anything John Hughes ever did.
Director Wes Anderson never lets the audience in as to whether he sees this story as humorous or pathetic.
Audience Reviews for Rushmore
Super Reviewer
-
- Max Fischer: A kid got his finger blown off during rehearsals.
-
- Max Fischer: Hello Magnus. I'd have shot you in the other ear, but it got blown off a long time ago.
-
- Magnus Buchan: I guess you're right. The son of a "brain doctor" doesn't need to impress anybody.
-
- Max Fischer: Piranha's are a very tricky species.
-
- Rosemary Cross: Although, I will say that Edward has more spark, character, and imagination in one fingernail than Herman Blume has in his entire body.
- Max Fischer: One dead fingernail.
- Rosemary Cross: Right. One dead fingernail.
-
- Max Fischer: Rushmore was my life, now you are.
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for Rushmore yet.
Latest News on Rushmore
October 21, 2009:
Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT InterviewWes Anderson, arguably the godfather of the quirky American indie thanks to the likes of Bottle...
September 6, 2007:
Wes Anderson Giving Fans a Glimpse of Natalie's Portmans?The Venice Film Festival is in full swing, and Time Out London is there to report on Wes Anderson's...
September 5, 2007:
RTIndie: Early Fest Reviews For Into the Wild, The Darjeeling Limited, and Margot at the WeddingThis week at RTIndie, we check out the early buzz from Telluride and Venice, where some of the...
What's Hot On RT
Bradley Cooper's Best Movies
Fast & Furious 6 is Certified Fresh
Fast & Furious cars gallery
Blockbusters ranked!
Featured on RT
- Weekly Ketchup: Fox and Marvel Both Courting Quicksilver for Comic Blockbusters 19
- Critics Consensus: Fast & Furious 6 is Certified Fresh 58
- Red Carpet Photos with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano and More 0
- Video: The Hangover Part III Cast Interviews 0
- Total Recall: Bradley Cooper's Best Movies 48
- Parental Guidance: Epic and Beautiful Creatures 2
- Comic Book Movies You Can Watch Online 14
Top Headlines
-
Evan Peters Joins X-Men: Days of Future Past
0
-
Toby Jones Talks Captain America: The Winter Soldier
1
-
The Poltergeist Reboot May Actually Be a Sequel
16
-
Will Forte Promises MacGruber 2
4
-
Universal Plans Timecop Reboot
2
-
Return of the Jedi Turns 30
1
-
Vin Diesel Says Fast & Furious 7 Will Take Place in L.A.
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
read it all at themoviefreakblog.com