Movie Review for Rushmore

Summary: Max Fischer is a social outcast at the posh Rushmore private school, which is populated by rich and obnoxious boys. Unsuccessful academically, he makes his mark through instigating dozens of clubs, inventing bizarre schemes, and on one occasion, putting on a harsh David Mamet-like play. He also falls for a much older teacher, Miss Cross, and when his infatuation is not returned, his schemes turn vengeful. He is expelled from school, and when he discovers that one of the parents of an obnoxious pupil is having an affair with Miss Cross, he declares war.

                         Reviews of Rushmore
By Carlo Cavagna of AboutFilm.com (7/0)
            Unsuccessfully walks the line between intellectual and physical comedy, but does have many genuin...

By Elspeth Haughton of Apollo Guide (7/0)
            Rushmore reeks with style and simply oozes charisma, from camera angles and composition to editin...

By Philip Martin of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (7/0)
            ... a movie about overt passion -- passion that is genuine and deserved as well as passion that i...

By Marc Savlov of Austin Chronicle (7/0)
            Rushmore as a film exists out of time and place, locked into a vaguely Sixties-ish groove that's ...

By Bryant Frazer of Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus (7/0)
            Rushmore may be the funny high school movie for people who can't abide funny high school movies.

By Jonathan Rosenbaum of Chicago Reader (7/0)
            Rushmore has a good deal of content and human qualities to spare, but what makes it such a charmi...

                         Reviews of Rushmore
By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
            [Rushmore is] structured like a comedy, but there are undertones of darker themes, and I almost w...

By Margaret A. McGurk of Cincinnati Enquirer (7/0)
            Rushmore [is] a delicious, twisted treat... it is unpredictable.

By Margaret A. McGurk of Cincinnati Enquirer (7/0)
            ...a delicious, twisted treat...

By Dan Jardine of Cinemania (7/0)
            Anderson is unable to frame an uninteresting shot.

By David Keyes of Cinemaphile.org (7/0)
            [Rushmore is] overblown with despicable and unfunny plot twists which create the illusion that au...

By Jeffrey M. Anderson of Combustible Celluloid (6/1)
            Rushmore is no ordinary movie.

                         Reviews of Rushmore
By Harvey S. Karten of Compuserve (7/0)
            [T]his is no ordinary tale of a kid whose brain and ambition are outsized for his school.

By Arthur Lazere of culturevulture.net (7/0)
            Peripheral characters cannot change what is at its core a hollow effort.

By Dragan Antulov of Draxblog Movie Reviews (7/0)
            Something very special.

By Andrew Howe of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            The music of life compressed into a ninety minute sonata.

By Erik Childress of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            Rushmore is a film with a lot of promise. Unfortunately most of it gets wasted.

By Caroline Westbrook of Empire Magazine (7/0)
            Offbeat and off centre highschool movie with ascerbic one liners delivered by a superb cast. A re...

                         Reviews of Rushmore
By Eugene Novikov of Film Blather (7/0)
            Rushmore is one of those films that are so original, it's almost off-putting.

By Ed Kelleher of Film Journal International (7/0)
            Rushmore will no doubt have its admirers, who will cite the intelligence and fun of its first hal...

By Ron Wells of Film Threat (7/0)
            It's a better coming of age movie than anything John Hughes ever did.

By Christopher Null of filmcritic.com (7/0)
            Rushmore is a truly American film that deserves to be seen by many, many people.

By Christopher Null of filmcritic.com (7/0)
            ...a truly American film that deserves to be seen by many, many people.

By MaryAnn Johanson of Flick Filosopher (7/0)
            Rushmore is certainly one of the most original films in years. It saddens me that it simply didn'...

                         Reviews of Rushmore
By Liam Lacey of Globe and Mail (7/0)
            One of the most original, good-hearted comedies in a long time, Rushmore is the sort of movie whe...

By Ross Anthony of Hollywood Report Card (7/0)
            If you're tired of the usual movie -- I strongly recommend "Rushmore"

By Gary Brown of Houston Community Newspapers (7/0)
            It’s a wonderful movie that I thoroughly enjoyed, but I’ve been wracking my brains... trying to f...

By Steve Rhodes of Internet Reviews (7/0)
            [Rushmore]... isn't a movie that's easy to pigeonhole... The movie is certainly funny, [but] it i...

By JoBlo of JoBlo's Movie Emporium (7/0)
            Quirky, unique, original in style, funny as heck, with some great performances put forth by the e...

By James Sanford of Kalamazoo Gazette (7/0)
            Quirkiness abounds, yet the beauty of the film is that the weird touches and slightly warped pers...

                         Reviews of Rushmore
By Robert Roten of Laramie Movie Scope (7/0)
            Rushmore is a charming, unconventional film that reminds me of the cult favorite Harold and Maude...

By Kenneth Turan of Los Angeles Times (7/0)
            ...Anderson has an idiosyncratic sensibility, the rare ability to create a world that is complete...

By Kevin N. Laforest of Montreal Film Journal (7/0)
            This is still a film not to be missed if you're tired of conventionality.

By Marty Mapes of Movie Habit (7/0)
            ...the quirkiness seems a little forced, a little overdone.

By Widgett Walls of Needcoffee.com (7/0)
            This film is the most disturbingly funny coming of age story since Harold met Maude.

By Janet Maslin of New York Times (7/0)
            ...a particular treat for its skewed, hilarious memories of a cutthroat boyhood.

                         Reviews of Rushmore
By Elias Savada of Nitrate Online (7/0)
            Off-kilter sweet and hopelessly romantic, with a dash of acne and a heaping of dark gray matter, ...

By Jeffrey Westhoff of Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) (7/0)
            With only his second film Anderson proves himself a director so in command of his medium he can i...

By Edward Johnson-Ott of NUVO Newsweekly (7/0)
            It would be easy to think of Rushmore as simply a delightfully off-the- wall comedy, but there is...

By Dennis Schwartz of Ozus' World Movie Reviews (7/0)
            This is arguably Bill Murray's best role yet.

By Jeanne Aufmuth of Palo Alto Weekly (7/0)
            The filmmaking itself is fresh and original; lots of fast-paced camera work, splashy colors and q...

By Cynthia Fuchs of Philadelphia City Paper (7/0)
            ... it does manage a modicum of cynicism, not the usual hardcore late-'90s variety, but less abra...

                         Reviews of Rushmore
By Bob Bloom of rec.arts.movies.reviews (7/0)
            If you're tired of car chases, disasters and special effects, check out a movie about some oddbal...

By Dustin Putman of rec.arts.movies.reviews (7/0)
            Rushmore, as in life, is a mixture of comedy and drama, of surprises and inevitability, and most ...

By Mark R. Leeper of rec.arts.movies.reviews (7/0)
            [It] could be fun, but it never seems to be.

By Michael Dequina of rec.arts.movies.reviews (7/0)
            ... the key to the film's memorable moments are the engaging characters.

By Scott Renshaw of rec.arts.movies.reviews (7/0)
            A quirky delight -- it's a uniquely oddball comedy that's still about people.

By Laura Clifford of Reeling Reviews (7/0)
            It's uniquely inspired lunacy that's an instant comedy classic...

                         Reviews of Rushmore
By James Berardinelli of ReelViews (7/0)
            Rushmore is intended to be hip and funny, but it's not really either.

By Peter Travers of Rolling Stone (7/0)
            To call Rushmore a romantic triangle about clinical depressives doesn't allow for the film's brac...

By Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com (7/0)
            Along comes Rushmore, and, well, I don't know what the hell it is exactly, except that it's a wor...

By Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle (7/0)
            There's a sweet humanity about the picture, though it's anything but sentimental.

By G. Allen Johnson of San Francisco Examiner (7/0)
            What is oddly alluring about Rushmore, despite its sexual overtones and a couple of creepy plot t...

By David Edelstein of Slate (7/0)
            What I wanted was a larger perspective, something more insightful than the one-thing-after-anothe...

                         Reviews of Rushmore
By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat of Spirituality and Practice (7/0)
            A quirky comedy about an egocentric young man who proves himself to be an eager student of life.

By Rob Blackwelder of SPLICEDWire (7/0)
            ... Rushmore is no ordinary movie...

By Geoff Andrew of Time Out (7/0)
            A peculiar, poignant comedy, with an outstanding character turn from Murray.

By Sandra Contreras of TV Guide's Movie Guide (7/0)
            Another quirky, hard-to-put-your-finger-on delight from the boys who brought us Bottle Rocket.

By Todd McCarthy of Variety (7/0)
            A wickedly funny high school comedy for most of its running time, Rushmore is a bracingly fresh a...

By Steven Snyder of Zertinet Movies (7/0)
             Director Wes Anderson never lets the audience in as to whether he sees this story as humorous or...

                         Reviews of Rushmore
By Janet Maslin of New York Times (3/5) Login Required (Login Required)
            ...it's a particular treat for its skewed, hilarious memories of a cutthroat boyhood.

By Marc Savlov of Austin Chronicle (4/3) No reference
            There's something about Jason Schwartzman's face in Rushmore that makes you want to punch him...

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (3/4) No reference
            When plotting replaces stage-setting and character development, the air goes out of the movie.

By Michael Wilmington of Chicago Tribune (6/1) No reference
            A true original: a film that stands apart from the crowd, goes its own way and all but dares you ...

By Madeleine Williams of Cinematter (6/1) No reference
            Rushmore is a truly distinctive comedy. It never becomes the sort of film that will have you conv...

By Ed Kelleher of E! Online (3/4) No reference
            ...starts off promisingly, but sputters somewhat during its second half.

                         Reviews of Rushmore
By Gabe Leibowitz of eCinemaCenter.com (3/4) No reference
            While Rushmore can be analyzed from many angles, I think it’s most interesting as a daring and or...

By Ron Wells of Film Threat (3/4) No reference
            ...probably Bill Murray's best performance ever.

By Jeffrey Overstreet of Looking Closer (3/4) No reference
            ...it is one of the most intelligent comedies in recent years...

By Kenneth Turan of Los Angeles Times (3/4) No reference
            ...has a protagonist it takes an act of will to care about.

By Nell Minow of Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies (6/1) No reference
            This is a movie in which a lot of hurt people grope toward something that even they cannot quite ...

By Michael Elliott of Movie Parables (6/1) No reference
            A sad but funny tale about both adolescence and adulthood.

                         Reviews of Rushmore
By J. Hoberman of Village Voice (3/4) No reference
            The sensibility is in no way derivative, although the friendly score and engagingly quirky perfor...

By James Berardinelli of ReelViews (6/1) Not Reachable
            Rushmore is intended to be hip and funny, but it's not really either.

Movie Distributors

Production Companies
American Empirical Pictures

Movie Studios
Touchstone Pictures