Rushmore
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Rushmore
Lead Actors: Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, and Olivia Williams
Director: Wes Anderson
Release Year: 1998
Runtime: 90 minutes
Wes Anderson movies tend to be hot or cold for me. On one hand, The Grand Budapest Hotel is one of my favorite films. Yet, others, like Moonrise Kingdom, really didn't hit the mark for me. This movie lives right in the middle. I found the constant change of setting jarring, and although the screenplay was witty and sometimes funny, I never really engaged with the plot in a meaningful way. That being said, Schwartzman plays his role very well, albeit with a character that is hard to pin down and understand their inner motivations. I felt as though there were layers of Max that I wasn't able to tap into, but the movie did pick up some steam when his inner obsessive and sociopath started being revealed. In the end, I would say I enjoyed the movie, but not as much as so many claim to when it comes to the classic films of the nineties. Nods to Bill Murray and Olivia Williams as well, but the triangle of conflict and desire between them and a teenage boy just generally felt contrived to me.