Rushmore

Once again, I sold somebody short.

See, I rented this movie called Bottle Rocket a couple years back. It had a young, good looking cast (plus James Caan, the man who bankrolled the project), and it was pitched towards fans of the Tarantinean genre, meaning it involves a botched heist, some hip pop culture speak and a body count. Bottle Rocket had all of the above, yet it was missing so much. Not even Caan's stunt casting as the area psycho could carry the movie. Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson, the team behind Bottle Rocket, better not quit their other jobs, whatever they may be. (We found out last summer, Owen Wilson's other job was actor: He was the blond hunk driller in Armageddon)

Then I started reading about this movie Rushmore, and how the Bottle Rocket boys had come of age rather quickly. To top things off,. They cast Bill Murray in a part so perfect for him that he may just walk off with an Oscar nomination. Well, I finally saw it, and I'd like to issue a formal apology to Wes and Owen. They put together one of the most unique movies I've seen in a long time. As for Murray, well, I've got three words for you: He was robbed.

The movie centers around fifteen year old Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman), student of the prestigious Rushmore Academy. Max is about as involved in school activities as one can get (the sequence listing his extracurricular responsibilities is a riot), yet his grades are atrocious. When former Rushmore alum, now steel tycoon Herman Blume (Murray) returns to give a speech to the current students, he strikes a chord with Max. The two form a fast and strong, if unstable, relationship. Blume's own kids won't even hang out with Max but Blume sees a lot of himself in Max (or at least his former self). But things get ugly when they spot young grade school teacher Miss Cross (Olivia Williams, picture Sporty Spice with better teeth and Elizabeth Hurley rolled into one) and both fall head over heels for her. After that, well, it just gets screwy.

Newcomer Schwartzman does a nice job playing a boy way beyond his years in terms of confidence and the ways of the world, and far beneath his years emotionally. Williams is hoping nobody remembers she was Kevin Costner's love interest in The Postman (We forgive you, Olivia). Murray's Blume is one of the most unique characters I've seen in quite a while. Anderson (he does the directing, Wilson is a cowriter) did a nice job exposing the faults of Max and Herman along with their good points, and that's a hard thing to do when you have a character like Murray's. The first mistake most filmmakers make is making the oddball blindly sympathetic. No such luck here. These people are tough loves, to be sure. And that's what makes it work. The soundtrack was perfect too, picking off the beaten path '60s songs that captured Max's alientation and Herman's yearning for his youth beautifully.

If you decide to see this, don't be surprised if you feel ripped off when it's over. Rushmore is one of those movies that needs a couple days to settle. It's not made to be immediately consumed and discarded. And those wind up having the best payoff for me. Who knows, Wes and Owen may be the next Coen brothers, though a little more mainstream.