Rushmore

February 26, 1999

Finally, respect for Bill Murray. Unfortunately, Rushmore will probably be only known as the film that initialized Bill Murray’s big comeback – and that’s way too bad. Murray more than deserved an Oscar nomination for his role, but a Golden Globe will have to do. He was the perfect example of the rash of mid-life crisises rampaging across America today as the baby boomers confront their mortality. He was almost too good. Probably because he himself has come out on the other side of the Hollywood mid-life crisis. No longer young enough and good looking enough to get the lead in wacky comedies, he had a few dry years, but he has successfully made the transition to respected character actor, starting with his role in Ed Wood. He’s no Jack Nicholson, but give him a few years…and hope he doesn’t end up another Leslie Neilson

Fitting the 90s director stereotype, Anderson’s second film has blown away it’s predecessor. [Pulp Fiction overshadowed Reservoir Dogs, Trainspotting overshadowed Shallow Grave, and Desperado overshadowed El Mariachi (though El Mariachi was better), though we won’t mention how bad Mallrats sucked next to Clerks.] I loved this film. It has been a long time since a film ventured into the damaged psyches of teenage boys. I would venture to compare the film with Weird Science. A fifteen year old guy would make a sexy chick if he knew how, it’s not that far out for one to manufacture a relationship with an older woman in his mind. The film is fairly realistic and way too much fun to watch. Every time Luke Wilson was on the screen, I drooled. Good thing that was about five minutes of the film or my boyfriend would have noticed. Drew who??? Anyway, this film isn’t really categorizable. I guess the closest thing would be black comedy, except that no one dies. It’s not a romance, because the relationships here are less than romantic. We should make a new film category for this film – Inappropriate Relationship Films. We could put it on the same shelf as The Graduate, My Tutor and Risky Business. How do you think Blockbuster would like that?

Speaking of The Graduate, I think I will puke if I hear another comparison between it and Rushmore. Don’t get me wrong, I know the comparison is valid, there is even a strange resemblance between Jason Schwartzman and Dustin Hoffman. I just hate The Graduate.

Go see this film!