Taglines: Love. Expulsion. Revolution.
Rushmore movie 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.
Rushmore is a 1998 comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson about an eccentric teenager named Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman in his film debut), his friendship with rich industrialist Herman Blume (Bill Murray), and their mutual love for elementary school teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). The film was co-written by Anderson and Owen Wilson. The soundtrack was scored by regular Anderson collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh and features several songs by bands associated with the British Invasion of the 1960s.
The movie helped launch the careers of Anderson and Schwartzman while establishing a “second career” for Murray as a respected actor in independent cinema At the 1999 Independent Spirit Awards, Anderson won Best Director award and Murray won Best Supporting Male award. Murray also earned a nomination for Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture.
Filming began in November 1997. On the first day of principal photography, Anderson delivered his directions to Murray in a whisper so that he would not be embarrassed if the actor shot him down. However, the actor publicly deferred to Anderson, hauled equipment, and when Disney denied the director a $75,000 shot of Max and Mr. Blume riding in a helicopter, Murray gave Anderson a blank check to cover the cost, although ultimately the scene was never shot.
At one point, Anderson toyed with the idea of shooting the private school scenes in England and the public school scenes in Detroit in order to “get the most extreme variation possible,” according to the director. Instead, the film was shot in and around Houston, Texas where Anderson grew up. His high school alma mater, St. John’s School, was used for the picturesque setting of Rushmore Academy. Lamar High School in Houston was used to depict Grover Cleveland High School, the public school.
In real life, the two schools are across the street from each other. Richard Connelly of the Houston Press said that the Lamar building “was ghetto’d up to look like a dilapidated inner-city school.” Many scenes were also filmed at North Shore High School. The film’s widescreen, slightly theatrical look was influenced by Roman Polanski’s Chinatown. Anderson also cites The Graduate and Harold and Maude as cinematic influences on Rushmore.
Rushmore (1998)
Directed by: Wes Anderson
Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Olivia Williams, Bill Murray, Seymour Cassel, Mason Gamble, Connie Nielsen, Andrew Wilson, Marietta Marich, Marietta Marich
Screenplay by: Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson
Production Design by: David Wasco
Cinematography by: Robert Yeoman
Film Editing by: David Moritz
Costume Design by: Karen Patch
Set Decoration by: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
Art Direction by: Andrew Laws
Music by: Mark Mothersbaugh
MPAA Rating: R for language and brief nudity.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: October 9, 1998
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