Rushmore (1998)

The extracurricular king of Rushmore Preparatory School is put on academic probation.

Director:

Wes Anderson

Writers:

Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson

Stars:

Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 16 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Schwartzman	...	Max Fischer
Bill Murray	...	Herman Blume
Olivia Williams	...	Rosemary Cross
Seymour Cassel	...	Bert Fischer
Brian Cox	...	Dr. Nelson Guggenheim
Mason Gamble	...	Dirk Calloway
Sara Tanaka	...	Margaret Yang
Stephen McCole	...	Magnus Buchan
Connie Nielsen	...	Mrs. Calloway
Luke Wilson	...	Dr. Peter Flynn
Dipak Pallana	...	Mr. Adams (as Deepak Pallana)
Andrew Wilson	...	Coach Beck
Marietta Marich	...	Mrs. Guggenheim
Ronnie McCawley	...	Ronny Blume
Keith McCawley	...	Donny Blume

Storyline

Max Fischer is a precocious 15-year-old whose reason for living is his attendance at Rushmore, a private school where he's not doing well in any of his classes, but where he's the king of extracurricular activities - from being in the beekeeping society to writing and producing plays, there's very little after school he doesn't do. His life begins to change, however, when he finds out he's on academic probation, and when he stumbles into love with Miss Cross, a pretty teacher of the elementary school at Rushmore. Added to the mix is his friendship with Herman Blume, wealthy industrialist and father to boys who attend the school, and who also finds himself attracted to Miss Cross. Max's fate becomes inextricably tied to this odd love triangle, and how he sets about resolving it is the story in the film.

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Plot Keywords:

vietnam war veteran | national film registry | love triangle | high school | unhappy marriage | 

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Taglines:

Love. Expulsion. Revolution.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and brief nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Latin French

Release Date:

19 February 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tres son multitud

Filming Locations:

Forest Club, 9950 Memorial Drive, Houston, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$43,666, 13 December 1998, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$17,105,219

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Empirical Pictures, Touchstone Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Wes Anderson: [The Rolling Stones] Features "I Am Waiting".

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Goofs

During the math class, the board is shown. y = f(x) = x^0.5. The question is to compute f(x+ deltax) - f(x). The first statement is accurate. The second statement is obtained by multiplying by 1 in the form of [(x+ deltax)^ 0.5 + x^ 0.5]/[(x+ deltax)^ 0.5 + x^ 0.5]. Thus the denominator of the second statement should be [(x+ deltax)^ 0.5 + x^ 0.5], NOT [(x+ deltax) + x^ 0.5]^0.5 as shown on the board. Interestingly, the third statement on the board has the denominator correct.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Student: If, and only if, both sides of the numerator is divisible by the inverse of he square root of the two unassigned variable.
School Professor: Good. Except when the value of the "X" coordinate is equal to or less than the value of one. Yes Isaac?
Student: What about *that* problem?
School Professor: Oh, that? Don't worry about that.
Student: Wait. Why?
School Professor: I just put that up as a joke. That's probably the hardest geometry equation in the world.
Student: Well, how much extra credit is it worth?
School Professor: Well, considering I've never seen anyone get it right, ...

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Connections

Referenced in Superhero A-Go-Go (2017)

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Soundtracks

Ooh La La
Written by Ronnie Wood and Ronnie Lane (as Ron Lane)
Published by WB Music Corp (ASCAP)
Performed by Faces (as The Faces)
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Wes Anderson reaches cinematic excellence with Rushmore, a story about Max Fischer a young man who's trying to find his own place in the world

Wes Anderson's Rushmore is a movie full of everything that modern day cinematic crap movies lack; dry humor, unique writing, music that makes a scene unforgettable, and real heart. I feel as though Rushmore is cinematic excellence, Max Fischer is the perfectly flawed yet absolutely brilliant character who tries to find his place in the world, whether it's by engrossing himself in extracurricular activities or pretending he's the son of a neurosurgeon. All of the characters are finely tuned, Herman Blume is a successful man who feels worthless, Miss Cross is a brilliant woman who feels only sorrow because of the loss of her husband. But it is their flaws that make them so wonderful, they aren't boxed into labeled packages, they are raw and real human beings who are just trying to survive. This movie is about, as Max says, finding out what you love and doing it for the rest of your life.

The camera angles in this film are interesting, connecting you to the environment and the characters. Wes Anderson picks the perfect music for each scene, especially for the heartbreaking scene at the end when Miss Cross and Max are dancing to the Faces "Ooh la la." But, what's most brilliant about Rushmore is how it makes you feel; pessimistic yet hopeful, sad yet joyful, confused yet clear-minded. A good movie makes you think but a great movie changes your perspective on the world and this is what Anderson has done. To quote Cousteau, as Miss Cross did in the Diving for Sunken Treasure book, "When one man, for whatever reason, has the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life he has no right to keep it to himself," and I'm glad that Wes Anderson created such an extraordinary movie and shared it with us all.