Say a Prayer for Surf Boy, Wherever He Is: A Look at Rushmore
Pajiba's Guide to What's Good for You / Daniel Carlson
As a movie critic, I’ve grown used to being asked the eternal question: “So, what’s your favorite movie?” It’s an understandable thing to ask, and I usually respond that the medium of film and my unhealthy love for same preclude me from choosing just one movie as my favorite. Dozens of films have affected my life, influenced my worldview, and worked the kind of magic that only movies can. It seems like, every moment of every day, some scene is constantly playing itself out in my head, whether it’s Michael kissing Fredo, or Charlie Kaufman reflecting on the benefits of a banana nut muffin, or a bloodied old British man muttering “My name’s Wilson” through gritted teeth, or Lloyd and Diane looking up at the “Fasten Seatbelt” sign, or Frank T.J. Mackey weeping at his father’s deathbed, or Jake Gittes watching a car wreck, or Mike doing the twirly-whirlies with Lorraine, or — well, I’m pretty sure you get the idea. So it’s not like I’m lying when I tell people that I can’t choose just one. Or anyway, not exactly lying. Because, when it comes down to it, I do have one. For the past eight years, I haven’t been able to get the character of Max Fischer out of my head. My favorite film is Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, and it also happens to be the director’s best film, encompassing his pathos, full of quirks and details, and soaring on a blend of faith, hope, and love. It’s got his best protagonist, the truest story, and the most genuine emotion of all his films.
Anderson, 37, is one of the young generation of filmmakers whose passion for movies outweighs their prolificacy. (Others include Sofia Coppola, P.T. Anderson, Alexander Payne.) He’s only made four films, and pretty evenly spaced: Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). Charted out, his brief filmography begins with skill, laughter, and great promise; crescendos to a peak of beauty and strength; falters slightly under the weight of its aspirations; and ultimately collapses under the weight of its grandiose posturing, trapped in a spiral of self-reverential idiosyncrasies that border on parodic. This rise to and painful fall from greatness is itself found in a majority of Anderson’s characters, a wild and wandering group of outsiders united by a common loneliness and desire to recapture the glory of days past.
It’s difficult to encapsulate Rushmore’s plot cleanly without reducing it to one of the cliches it so strongly avoids. On the surface, the film is about a 15-year-old student named Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) who attends the tony Rushmore Academy and spends more time “starting up clubs and putting on plays” than studying. He develops a crush on one of the teachers, Rosemarie Cross (Olivia Williams), as does local steel magnate Herman Blume (Bill Murray), who strikes up an unlikely friendship with Max after meeting him on campus. Blume and Miss Cross later have a brief, mild affair, though it ends quickly. Max winds up getting expelled from Rushmore, and after a series of ups and downs and a battle with Blume over a woman neither one can have, Max begins to re-examine his life and relationships. In short, he starts to grow up.
That’s a pretty poor summary of the film. I can just imagine the difficulties Anderson must have had trying to pitch the thing to some producer in order to scrape up cash. It seems like most movies today are designed to be pitched, sold, packaged, and easily reduced to a logline. If you’ve never seen the film, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a coming-of-age tale about a weird high school kid, but the film is infinitely more nuanced than that. Deftly, beautifully played by Schwartzman, Max Fischer is Anderson’s greatest and most relatable hero. As he gradually matures, Max best embodies the yearning for the past that runs like a subterranean river through the landscape of Anderson’s world. Max pines for a lost glory he never actually had, because Anderson’s characters are constantly chasing a fictionalized version of their own pasts, convinced that if they can just reach their goal, then things will once again be right with the world. In addition, Max also exemplifies the savior qualities that run through Anderson’s protagonists.
The key line of dialogue that unlocks the films of Wes Anderson comes mere moments after the beginning of Bottle Rocket. Luke Wilson’s Anthony Adams is packing his bags and preparing to leave the mental hospital he’s been staying at in order to clear his head and cure his “exhaustion.” Outside, Dignan (Owen Wilson) waits for Anthony to escape via a bed sheet out his window, despite the fact that Anthony’s hospitalization has been voluntary. The doctor comes in to say his goodbyes and discovers Anthony at the window, ready to climb out, and reluctantly acquiesces to Anthony’s scheme after he says how much it will mean to Dignan. Anthony’s willingness to serve the often delusional needs of his best friend are underscored by the doctor’s final words, which are almost carried off on the wind as Anthony jumps to the ground: “Don’t try to save everybody, OK?” Anthony calls back, “OK, I won’t,” but his dismissive tone means Anthony likely won’t heed the advice. Dignan’s quirks propelled the narrative, but Anthony was the relatable hero who gave of himself just to make his friends happy. It’s a moderately noble goal, if a little short-sighted: Anthony’s biggest contribution comes when he agrees to join Dignan’s crew in robbing a meat packing plant, when he probably would have been better off trying to help Dignan get a better grip on reality.
This pseudo-messiah complex is at the core of Anderson’s heroes, and it’s never stronger or purer than in Max Fischer. When Max finally realizes that Miss Cross doesn’t love him, the bottom falls out of Max’s world, but instead of becoming overly bitter, he begins to approach life with a kind of grace that comes not just from conquering your demons but transcending them. He persuades Blume to finish the aquarium in order to make Blume look good to Miss Cross; Max even seats them next each other at the opening of his play “Heaven & Hell.” Max has an unrelenting desire to offer his friends the kind of peace and happiness that he himself doesn’t have. This is much more than the favors for a lonely friend that Anthony performs in Bottle Rocket; here, Max is actually willing to give the woman he loved to his best friend out of a selfless to desire to make their lives better.
Anderson continued mining this trait of heroic martyrdom in his next two films, but never with the success or power of Rushmore. His follow-up, The Royal Tenenbaums, is a beautiful, sad portrait of a sprawling family of geniuses in decline, held together primarily by the pain that’s marked the seasons of their ruined lives. The Tenenbaums’ patriarch, Royal (Gene Hackman), is a cantankerous old liar who decides to force himself back into the lives of his estranged wife, Etheline (Anjelica Huston), and three children — Chas (Ben Stiller), Richie (Luke Wilson), and Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow). He feigns cancer in order to move in with the family for a while, but they discover he’s faking it and kick him out, which eventually starts Royal on the road to self-improvement through sacrifice and recovery through helping his family work out their various problems. Royal connects the most with the son he’s emotionally furthest from at the beginning, Chas, whose wife died a year before (as you can probably tell, absent parents are a pretty big thing with Anderson). Stiller’s manic energy brings the perfect edge to Chas’ spiraling depression, and at the end of the film, Royal and Chas stumble into a blissful moment of forgiveness as Chas whispers, “I’ve had a pretty bad year, Dad.” And Royal responds, “I know you have,” placing his hand on his son’s shoulder. It’s a calmly magnificent moment, but hampered by the subdued tone of the film that preceded it. While Rushmore was filled with moments of quiet joy that reveled in the quirks and humanity of its characters, Tenenbaums feels more intentionally repressed, and self-reflexively so. The film announced its serio-comic nature with a kind of posturing that edged dangerously close to parody (though Anderson wouldn’t fully commit such follies until The Life Aquatic.) If Rushmore wore its heart on the sleeve of its navy blazer, then Tenenbaums expected you to laud the film’s emotion without its having to display it often, or even at all. It’s still a well-made, hilarious film, with a sterling cast and stellar soundtrack (including the haunting “Christmas Time Is Here” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio), but it’s ultimately a derivation of Rushmore, not a companion to it.
Tenenbaums was Anderson’s third film, but his second in what has become his recognizable style. For instance, Bottle Rocket was shot in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio and relied on the gray skies and foggy primary colors of the Texas countryside:
But with Rushmore, Anderson graduated to a 2.35:1 ratio, played up his use of inserts and close-ups, and began to more carefully compose shots to maximize the frame:
Look at the way Anderson’s able to easily fit eight people into a medium shot by using such a wide frame. Anderson came into his own stylistically on Rushmore, thanks in no small part to cinematographer Robert Yeoman and production designer David Wasco. The frames are beautifully filled and rely heavily on a more formal composition, with handheld shots kept to a minimum, which also served to highlight a scene’s importance or emotional instability whenever Anderson shifted to hand-held. There’s a palpable sense of joy in the tableau inserts Anderson uses, even if it’s just to detail the items on Max’s desk or show a close-up of a bulletin board. It’s the joy of discovery, of a filmmaker mapping out his own world with the viewer along for the ride. Everything about Rushmore’s style brims with freshness and light; it’s the rush of falling in love for the first time and realizing your own full potential. But Anderson’s later films resorted to the same tools with diminishing results, and though he still managed to find success with Tenenbaums, his next feature, The Life Aquatic, caved under its own weight.
Upon first viewing, The Life Aquatic feels just like a typical Wes Anderson film: wide frames, use of space, a production design that filters reality through the epic imagination of a child storyteller. But the film is a struggle to get through, and a sad departure from the pattern Anderson was beginning to describe in cinema. Although the film starred many of Anderson’s regulars — Murray, Huston, Owen Wilson — the creative team had changed: Anderson and Owen Wilson had co-written Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and The Royal Tenenbaums, but here Wilson bowed out and gave up co-writing duties to Noah Baumbach. Baumbach is the writer-director of Kicking & Screaming and The Squid and the Whale, among other films, and his presence has a drastic effect on the tone of Anderson’s film. Ocean explorer and documentary filmmaker Steve Zissou (Murray) bears little resemblance to Anderson’s heroes so far: He’s an unrelenting prick, he’s divorced and OK with it, and he’s brutally callous to his enemies. In regards to the relationship between Steve’s ex-wife and his longtime rival, Steve abruptly asks her: “How could you lay that slick faggot?” The line gets a jerking laugh the first time, but the level of repressed hate is disquieting. More than just unlikable, Steve is a horribly far cry from Max, who began to discover his identity by making sacrifice and, in short, loving others. Steve experiences not one iota of emotional change or growth throughout the film, but rather ends it as coldly as he began, friendless and alone in his quest for elusive greatness. The main thrust of the plot is supposed to be Steve’s attempt to reconnect with Ned (Wilson), who may be Steve’s long-lost son, as Ned joins Steve’s crew on a journey to hunt and kill a rare jaguar shark that killed Steve’s friend. But the heart and soul of Anderson’s earlier works is replaced with a fetishistic focus on imaginary toys at the expense of relatable emotion.
I used to think that The Life Aquatic felt like a play Max Fischer might put on: the colors, costumes, plot twists, and set design have a hyperreality to them, as if they were deliberately planted or planned by an amateur playwright. But that’s giving The Life Aquatic too much credit, and Max too little. Max’s plays, particularly his Vietnam-set “Heaven & Hell” from Rushmore’s finale, are full of earnest if clumsy heart; the play actually brings Blume to tears, in a hilarious and touching moment. But The Life Aquatic is sterile and keeps any kind of emotion at arm’s length. Anderson’s too busy obsessing over the helmets on the diving suits to invest any of the characters with a heart or a brain and, as a result, when Steve suddenly and arbitrarily reaches a moment of catharsis at the film’s climax, it feels utterly fake, as if Anderson is pulling our leg, having a laugh at our expense that we could ever have assumed such a caricature could grow into a character. The Life Aquatic is crushed by the weight of Anderson’s swelling head, and fumbled by a reach that falls short of his grasp.
It’s fair to say there’s an exuberance in Rushmore that Wes Anderson may never fully recapture. He wrote and directed the film before he was 30, and it’s not uncommon for many young filmmakers to create works of art that are as fueled by age and desire as by any measurable cinematic skill. Rushmore burns with the fire of a man who realizes that he is capable of unknown greatness, and is willing to risk everything to find it. Anderson’s later stumblings hardly make him a failure, but they do underscore just how special Rushmore is to both Anderson and the field of American comedy. The film also has one of the best endings you could ask for, a sequence at a dance following the “Heaven & Hell” premiere that reunites all the characters for one last moment together. The scenes radiate a warmth that’s impossible to describe; Anderson manages to capture the poignancy of growing up with careful glances and brief, honest dialogue. Max has since gotten over Miss Cross and given a kind of blessing to her and Blume, and he’s also found a girl his own age. But even so, Max and Miss Cross step out onto the dance floor as the Faces’ “Ooh La La” swells in the background. Max and Miss Cross aren’t dating, and never did, but they still found themselves in a valid, if twisted, relationship. And for one moment, Max’s own dreams finally come true, as he and Miss Cross drift out under the firework stars and the curtain swings to a close.
Daniel Carlson is the managing editor of Pajiba and a copy editor at a Hollywood industry magazine. You can visit his blog, Slowly Going Bald.
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Comments
Daniel..
I've been a Pajiba reader for over a year now, and have always gotten anywhere from a cheap laugh to an enlightened moment after reading your reviews. But this time, I think you´ve outdone yourself. Phenomenal review for a wonderful piece of film. I havent watched Rushmore for years, but you can bet I´m going to go and pick up a copy tonight. Thanks for reminding me just how great it really was. Now if only I could forget Steve F*****g Zissou...
Posted by: aratweth at July 26, 2006 7:25 AM
I haven't seen the movies Rushmore or Bottle Rocket for that matter. I would really like to though.
The first Wes Anderson film that I saw was The Royal Tenenbaums. I liked the quiet melancholy feel to it and the suddle humour.
But I must say, I loved The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Maybe it is a bit too focused on being quirky and artsy, but I did empathise with the characters as well. It could be because I love Bill Murray to death, but he did not come across as just a bastard to me. Owen Wilson was brilliant. I thought there was a lot of feeling behind is performance... they were stifled emotions, but still emotions that I could recognise with ease. And the humour did admittedly play a more obvious part, but there was still something warm and human to it.
But yeah, that's just my opinion.
Posted by: Sofia at July 26, 2006 7:47 AM
I'd written Anderson's movies off after quasi-liking "Tenenbaums" and writing off "Life Aquatic", but Rushmore is something I will have to see now!
Posted by: bebemiqui at July 26, 2006 9:51 AM
I've liked all of Wes Anderson's films, including Life Aquatic but I'll readily admit it's not his best by far. Royal Tennenbaums edges Rushmore out slightly to be probably my favourite film ever simply becasue with my own personal life, I can relate so much more to the Tennenbaum kids.
Rushmore and Tennenbaums also both have a unique feeling to them. The best I could describe is 'grown-up childrens story.' The style reminds me oddly of books I would have read growing up (although for the life of me I cannot picture what books that would have been.)
All of his films seem to have that loyal friend, who will help the lead with all they can do:
For Bottle Rocket, it was Anthony and Dignan.
For Rushmore, it wasn't just Max and Mr. Blume, but Dirk helping Max.
(Rushmore, I'd say Pagoda.)
I always found it an interesting layer of friendship added on to the romantic love side of things.
Posted by: Trek Barnes at July 26, 2006 10:15 AM
Thank you so much for writing this review. I saw Rushmore when i was a Freshman in Highschool and i never really got over how amazing it was.
But even more than a fine review of a great movie, i would like to thank you for your straight talk about the Royal Tenenbaums. I am the only person i know who loathed that movie, not even because it is a bad movie, but because of how far off the mark Wes Anderson was in making it.
Pajiba has become the only movie review site that i read anymore, and every week i am reminded why.
Posted by: Brendon at July 26, 2006 10:58 AM
Rushmore is one of those movies I've avoided because I'm afraid it will put me through an emotional ringer. It took me years to work up the courage to watch Awakenings and Stella, and I can never watch those again. It just hurt too damn bad. Now I realize Rushmore is not comparable to those movies, but I often find that what I'm supposed to find funny isn't because I'm too busy feeling badly for the character or I'm just too disturbed by what is going on underneath the "funny." A good example of that for me is What About Bob? I did not deal well with that movie. I felt so badly for Bob that I never found anything funny. I didn't watch Bill Murray in a movie for several years after that (I'm sure this contributes to my avoidance of Rushmore). However, your review was so lovely that I think I may have to rent it this weekend. I'm sure I'll cry myself dry. Thanks for a great review.
I too hated The Life Aquatic.
Posted by: tknocks at July 26, 2006 11:09 AM
Seriously, anyone who hasn't seen Rushmore, go get a copy TODAY. You are really missing out. I was mesmerized by it on the first viewing and I'm really happy to see this tribute/review of it here now.
It's often overlooked, but what a gem. I get off on the intellectualism in it, not because I'm a snob, but because I love that shit. LOL.
But Max. Oh Max. How I love him. I wish he were a real person and I could talk to him. I know Max. Hell, I was Max to a certain extent.
And I think it's one of Bill Murray's best performances in the last decade. That includes Broken Flowers and Lost in Translation. His character in Rushmore cannot be matched. It's like it was custom written for him.
Posted by: Kathy at July 26, 2006 11:32 AM
tknocks: don't worry. Rushmore isn't a weepy type movie. I dunno, maybe I'm a bit hardened, but it's never made me tear up. The last scenes, as Daniel said, ARE beautiful. But I wouldn't put it in the same category as Awakenings or Stella at all. Get a copy, you'll love it!
Posted by: Kathy at July 26, 2006 11:35 AM
That pretty much sums it up for me as well, Rushmore is one of my favorite films, along with the The Big Lebowski and Fight Club. Rushmore has everything and there's something comforting about it, like you've been in Max's shoes but not really, maybe it's a primal instinct or something. It's also Bill Murray at his best, I love that scene where he jumps into the pool with a beer and a cigarette in his mouth. It's just a really fantastic film! Wes Anderson's other films are good too, The Royal Tannenbaums is my second favorite, although Bottle Rocket is pretty damn good, thanks to Owen Wilson (he never was quite the same again after that)...
Posted by: Gina at July 26, 2006 12:58 PM
What an excellent article. Thanks!
Posted by: Big Daddy at July 26, 2006 1:10 PM
Well it is obvious you have talent. This really is a fine site, and I thoroughly enjoy your narrative and expository writing style. You have done a great job dissecting Wes Anderson's work, but I guess I am either too blind, or too forgiving in the fact that I found Life Aquatic to be wonderful.
Keep in mind I take cinema for what it is, a short escape (hopefully to the fantastic) from the dullards of life. I personally loved where Life Aquatic took me. Bill Murray didn't play the prototype 'protag' in "Life," but I find it hard to believe how someone who obviously watched the movie many times missed on how well layered Steve actually was. To say he had no emotional read at all is so far off, I can only assume I related with him in some twisted way of self-aggrandizement. But the last thing I want to do is sit here and throw pebbles at a wonderful piece. I just think that Life Aquatic was wildly misunderstood, and Murray's performance was one of his better ones. He was bitter and angry, but he wasn't always that way. He had moments of glory, only to be shelled again. Who doesn't experience that on a daily basis? I guess the fact that it didn't play into the fantastical in the end like some of his other movies did was a detriment to you, but I guess I disagree there. Touché.
I think what makes that sad man real in my mind is when they are all in the sub and he ponders if the shark remembers him. Its so egocentric and silly, yet so vulnerable and sad. It's the kaleidoscope Anderson plays with his characters like that example that make him my favorite director out there...even if most of the other people thought he lost his way.
And his commercials are hilarious as well.
Posted by: Stevesy at July 26, 2006 1:15 PM
For those who have not had the pleasure of viewing Rushmore, try to pick up the Criterion Collection DVD. Not only is it visually spectacular, but the extras are great also. I often enjoy director/star commentaries more for their unintentional comedy, but Wes, Owen and Jason give a fascinating commentary on the film that is worth the price of this release alone.
Posted by: Josfan at July 26, 2006 1:57 PM
I've seen all the movies except for The Life Aquatic. After the Tannenbaums, I remember thinking, does anyone else see the similarities, connections, or nods, whatever you want to call to: John Irving's "The Hotel New Hampshire" and J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" and "Raise High the Roof-Beam, Carpenters"?!?
Now that I think about it, Rushmore and Bottle Rocket had those influences too, the Tannenbaums was just more obvious, this is not criticism, just observation, it's all good.
Posted by: MRod at July 26, 2006 2:01 PM
A thoughtful discourse about Max Fischer on my favorite film review website? Fan-fucking-tastic...keep up the great work guys :)
Posted by: Kate at July 26, 2006 2:02 PM
The most striking thing about this entire review was the language used to describe the feelings imparted into the filmmaking by Anderson. Words like 'exuberance' and more notably 'joy', that you really don't hear used anymore. It brought to mind this comic's subject matter. It mentions how the word 'joy' seems almost odd because it is untouched by popularity or irony, like the word 'awesome'.
I guess my point is way to go on using words that still mean something. It makes this review more reverant of Anderson's work.
Posted by: Emily at July 26, 2006 2:25 PM
Alright, html didn't work. This is the comic I meant:
http://www.qwantz.com/index.pl?comic=166
Posted by: Emily at July 26, 2006 2:26 PM
Rushmore made me tear up, but it's not generally a weepy movie. I haven't gotten over it yet--everything from the music to the dialogue to the hilarious re-enactment of "Serpico" and the big Scottish dude still sticks with me for some reason to this day--and I really must get the DVD. The VHS copy isn't cuttin' it for me anymore.
This is also the reason as to why I'm still in love with Jason Schwartzman. Sigh.
Posted by: em at July 26, 2006 2:42 PM
Daniel, me too.
Viva Rushmore.
Posted by: SHE at July 26, 2006 3:07 PM
For a second there... I thought this was an obit for Anderson...
Posted by: Brian at July 26, 2006 3:37 PM
Am I alone in wanting to see more of this sort of thing from Pajiba? I generally really like what you guys do, but I could care less about what you thought of Little Man. Yes, it was bad, I know. What about what you thought of Three Days of the Condor? Touch of Evil? Hell, let's have a round table on Life Aquatic, since people seem to care. (For the record, I saw nothing wrong with it.) This is the sort of thing I really want to read. You should post this sort of thing every day.
Posted by: My Name's Wilson at July 26, 2006 3:39 PM
Please don't hate me, I really did not like Rushmore. I loved Max Fischer's character but overall I found the movie boring and way too in love with itself. Which is funny because I adored the Royal Tenanbaums. Maybe because it alludes to one of my favorite childhood books- the name escapes me but it was the one where the two kids ran away from home and lived in a museum- I think it had the name Basil in the title?
Anyway, I guess I'll give Rushmore a second viewing but I really found it difficult to get through the first time. I think Jason Schwartzman was really its only saving grace.
Posted by: cmoody at July 26, 2006 3:47 PM
The book is 'From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.'
Posted by: Lisa at July 26, 2006 4:19 PM
here here. i am a major wes anderson fan ever since this movie came out. plus bill murray is a personal hero of mine.
also, isnt it spelled subtle? not sure if anyone else caught that because i didnt read all of the comments. but yeah... its subtle.
Posted by: dumpy at July 26, 2006 5:00 PM
"Am I alone in wanting to see more of this sort of thing from Pajiba? I generally really like what you guys do, but I could care less about what you thought of Little Man."
Love this review and love Rushmore. That said, please don't deprive me of the opportunity to have critics take a terrible movie and explain in excruciating detail precisely why it's terrible. They're both important cultural priorities!
Posted by: Samantha T at July 26, 2006 5:23 PM
I check out Pajiba every day, but this is the first time I've let out an audible 'YES!' upon seeing that quote from Rushmore.
Thank you so, so much for the wonderful review on such a beautiful film. Not many folks around my area speak of or even know about Wes Anderson, so whenever I read someone sharing the same passion I do for the dialogue, the cinematography, just the overall IT of Wes' films, I just get a little giddy.
Sic transit gloria. Maybe we'll meet again some day...when the fighting stops.
Posted by: red right hand at July 26, 2006 5:37 PM
Beautiful and HooRah...
Perhaps next time you'll write more about PTA.
Posted by: Mrs Jones at July 26, 2006 5:38 PM
you must be reading my mind, Daniel. I just saw Rushmore yesterday after wanting to see it for a while. it was an incredible film that wasn't... overbearing like many films are these days. I am becoming a big fan of Jason Schwartzman, who seems to be in a ton of the movies I've seen in the past year.
great review. more please!
Posted by: Eileen at July 26, 2006 6:13 PM
Even though Royal Tennenbaums is my favorite movie, I've always know Rushmore was a better and in a way it has disqualified both from any mental list. The Tennenbaum love story strikes a chord for familiarity and coziness in every beat. The edge it teeters on with respect to seriousness felt like fate, unseamless authorship and another character.
The only thing I really hate about Steve Zissou in retrospect is the Portugez Bowie. It was ok in theaters (funny even) but makes me really nauseous to recall.
Anyway, Rushmore is a perfect film and makes for an interesting favorite. I also wanted to reiterate that I adore this site- love it as much as the moview themselves and also, someone up there said his films remind them of books from childhood and I've always thought there was a connection with Roald Dahl's storytelling. My all time favorite author until I discovered his adult literature in grade 3 after exhausting the good stuff. Needless to say, Anderson's next project The Fantastic Mr. Fox is based on the book by RD. So there you go.
Posted by: adrianne at July 26, 2006 10:54 PM
"Oh, Latin America and what not.."
This is great I just rediscovered Rushmore myself last week. I rented it and watched it three times almost in a row. I can't describe how this movie grabs me, or exactly what it's charms are, but I think you've done a very good job of that for me. Excellent review, excellent movie, I recommend everyone take the time to see this.
Posted by: thekief4 at July 27, 2006 12:00 AM
I love you Daniel! This review made me think about Rushmore and how much I really love it. I watched it last week because my mom had never seen it, and there's something genuinely magical about it. I love all of Anderson's films right down to The Life Aquatic, but Rushmore is one of the best films I've ever seen. I think it'll always have a special place in my heart.
Posted by: Nat at July 27, 2006 2:30 AM
"After the Tannenbaums, I remember thinking, does anyone else see the similarities, connections, or nods, whatever you want to call to: John Irving's "The Hotel New Hampshire" and J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" and "Raise High the Roof-Beam, Carpenters"?!?"
I did! It reminded me most of "The Hotel New Hampshire" (which happens to be one of my favourite books)... I guess the general atmosphere in Anderson's movies can be quite 'Irvingian' (heh...). Don't know about "Catcher in the Rye" - i never really understood that novel and the protagonist always seemed somewhat creepy to me.
(oh yeah and it is subtle...)
Posted by: Sofia at July 27, 2006 2:48 AM
Daniel, this article was goddamned poetic. Nice work, man.
Posted by: Jen at July 27, 2006 3:23 AM
I'm too tired to read the whole review right now, but what I've read is pretty on track. Just wanted to add my own thoughts on the Anderson cinematic arc and relate a funny story.
On Anderson:
I started to write this lengthy treatise on his oeuvre, but then I saw that you described the same arc in your review. Basically, first Wes Anderson made a movie that was flavored with his unique quirkiness, then he made Wes Anderson's vision of a movie, and then he started making Wes Anderson Movies (tm). I still enjoy them, but I feel like I'm watching prog rock, which becomes less art by trying to become more art, if that makes sense. I don't know, though, maybe it's just that Wes Anderson has an idea about what made his movies special, and I do too, and we don't agree on every point.
Anyhoo, the funny story is that I live in Houston and a friend of mine and I went to Rushmore in the theaters. These two girls from St. Johns ("Rushmore") were sitting in front of us, and when they showed a scene in the library, one of them said excitedly to the other one "That's the library!" Like, see, that place with the books? I go to St. Johns, so I know that's the library. I dunno, struck me as really funny at the time.
Posted by: Eep at July 27, 2006 4:15 AM
Rushmore is totally my favorite movie. I show it to everyone I meet who hasn't seen it.
I agree that Tenenbaums and Life Aquatic aren't quite as good, but I will still watch every Wes Anderson movie that comes out just to see what he does next.
Jason Schwartzman I can't quite get over though. Or rather, he seems like he needs to get over himself. He just picks such maddenly good roles and carries them off with almost a shrug as if to say "oh that was nothing". Maybe it's his crappy band (Phantom Planet) that really gets under my skin.
Posted by: Karina at July 27, 2006 10:48 AM
I loved this piece, thank you. Have never seen Rushmore although loved The Royal Tenenbaums. Life Aquatic was billed (in my mind) exactly like what the rumors say Bill Murray is -- a nasty jerk. Yeah yeah, so I was swayed by rumors. I missed Bottle Rocket too, and CANNOT WAIT to see both.
Posted by: Maria at July 27, 2006 11:28 AM
this is killing me.
i got all the references at the beginning of the article EXCEPT
"Mike doing the twirly-whirlies with Lorraine"
HELP?
Posted by: Jocelyn at July 27, 2006 1:29 PM
this is killing me.
i got all the references at the beginning of the article EXCEPT
"Mike doing the twirly-whirlies with Lorraine"
HELP?
Posted by: Jocelyn at July 27, 2006 1:32 PM
Swingers? Just a thought, I wasn't totally sure.
Posted by: em at July 27, 2006 2:54 PM
Wes Anderson is easily my favorite filmaker, so it was fun to read an excellent review of his work. Personally, I thought Tennenbaums was his best work, with Rushmore an extremely close second. I enjoyed Zissou although I thought it weaker than Tennenbaums and Rushmore but still consider it a great movie. I liked the departure from the classic savior/protagonist character we find in Royal and Max, to a deeply flawed person in Zissou. Zissou grows and finds some redemption in the film, but basically stays the same person, because, "he's the Zissou". I liked that. And at the end of the day, would you rather watch "The Life Aquatic" or the "Dukes of Hazzard"? Even Anderson at his worst is still far and away superior to 99% of Hollywood:)
Posted by: Chris at July 27, 2006 4:53 PM
I loved Bottle Rocket but hated Rushmore. Even after reading this pretty spectacular essay on its beauty, I still don't feel like I'm missing much in not being a fan of the movie. Max and his maturation never really struck a chord with me. Perhaps I've just been too inundated with male coming of age stories, or maybe I'm just tired of being buried under the idea that I'm supposed to stand up and clap for the idea that men too can reach emotional maturity, but I just couldn't find it in me to give a sh*t about Rushmore. Given my lackluster response to Rushmore, I didn't see the point of seeing Tennenbaums or Zissou. Say what you will about my taste, but I don't feel Wes Anderson's movies are really for me.
Posted by: Kris at July 27, 2006 5:22 PM
I have been a reader of your site for about six months or so now. I mostly read the reviews of current films for entertainment value, but this review was really amazing. This is EXACTLY how I feel about Rushmore. When people ask me what my favorite movie is, it's tough to say, but I truly know it's Rushmore. Every time I see the movie, it blows me away. It's dry humor and warmth just get me every time. There's something about the movie that just amazes me, and your review of it caputred my sentiments perfectly.
Every little detail about this movie I love -- for example, when Max's chapel partner, Dirk, gives Max the swiss army knife, and when Anderson goes in for the close-up, you can see it was taped with the beginning of the tape roll with the little green edge with the arrows. Who would think of that?! It's a detail that would seem irrelevant but in a way adds a ton of character to the film. I also really love the part when Max first introduces his father to Herman Blume/Bill Murray, and Blume has this look on his face, as he realizes that Max's father isn't a surgeon, but a barber. He doesn't have to say a word, but the look of realization comes across with such subtlety and naturalness, it almost brings me to tears. The beauty of Rushmore is in the feeling and the details, and reading your review, I couldn't agree with anything you said about this amazing movie more.
Also, the fact that I love Jason Schwartzman doesn't hurt my love of the movie, either.
Oh, and I also for some reason love the part when Max shoots Magnus in the ear with the BB gun to get his attention. I can't say why, but I laugh my ass off every time I watch that part.
Anyway, kick-ass review. I'm glad you wrote it.
Posted by: Adora at July 27, 2006 5:38 PM
Kris, I felt exactly the same way about Rushmore but loved the Royal Tennenbaums. I mean loved. I laughed harder in that movie than I ever have in a theatre before. (It was the pictures on the wall of Owen Wilson's apartment, along with the huge stacks of porn on his coffee table. I just couldn't stop laughing.) But such is the power of Daniel's writing that I am going to give Rushmore a second viewing in case I was just in a really, really bad mood when I saw it. The thing I remember most disliking about it was the weak, weak female character who couldn't stand up to a teenage boy. But I am the ONLY person I know who didn't like it so it could have been just a bad day.
Posted by: Jessica at July 27, 2006 5:39 PM
On your advice, I'll have to watch Rushmore again. I liked it fine, but it just didn't resonate with me the way The Royal Tenebaums did. I saw The Royal Tenenbaums first, so when I went back and watched Rushmore and Bottle Rocket, I really felt the absence of a lot of the elements I loved about the Royal Tenenbaums: the overt humor, the literary allusions, the sweeping cinamatography, and the kick-ass sound track, and so on.
Plus, while I appreciated Max, I never related to him. I saw more of myself in the Tenebaums, all of whom seemed like real and complete people to me, wheras a lot of the characters in Anderson's earlier films felt like ideas or sketches.
Posted by: Haley at July 27, 2006 10:59 PM
I forgot to mention big ups to Anderson for putting an unheralded cameo for Ogie Oglethorpe as the doctor at the beginning of Bottle Rocket.
Jessica- funny you should say that because I always thought the female character in Rushmore was strong, and probably the most mature character in the movie. Much like the little sister in Bottle Rocket (who stole the scene with Luke Wilson when he picks her up from school).
Posted by: Eep at July 28, 2006 10:25 AM
My instant love for Rushmore came with a single interchange between Schwartzman and Luke Wilson.
"They're OR scrubs."
"OH, ARE they?"
I almost peed myself. A great tribute to a movie definitely in my top 5.
Posted by: MG at July 28, 2006 10:28 AM
Thanks Sofia! I was starting to think maybe I was crazy. The Tennenbaums especially reminded my of Raise High the Roof-Beams, also about a family of extraordinary children. And the Catcher in the Rye more resembles Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, getting kicked out of a private school thing. Which makes sense since I think Anderson and the Wilson brothers all went to St. Marks here in Dallas, or maybe it was just the Wilsons...
But yeah Salinger can be a little creepy, especially thanks to that nut case Hinckley.
Posted by: MRod at July 28, 2006 10:32 AM
"My instant love for Rushmore came with a single interchange between Schwartzman and Luke Wilson.
"They're OR scrubs."
"OH, ARE they?"
I almost peed myself. A great tribute to a movie definitely in my top 5."
I still find that funny. Still.
Posted by: em at July 28, 2006 10:38 AM
Okay, now I read the full review. I agree with a lot of what's said, with a couple exceptions. The one that's worth mentioning is the "messiah complex." I'm not so sure it's that Max gives up his own life and dreams for the sake of his friends' happiness as it is that he gains perspective and learns that part of getting what you want is wanting what you get.
You know, I had no idea that Baumbach was involved with Steve Zissou, but now it makes perfect sense to me. The Squid and the Whale struck me as lifeless and pessimistic compared to Anderson's work (I knew at the time that the project had Anderson's blessing). Baumbach seems like an embittered child of an intellectual family that lived in a manufactured reality who is trying to reject and mock that reality by being forcefully profane and brutal towards his past. The Wilson version of Anderson, even when he lays a character brutally naked with all the flaws out in the open, even when they really are being jerks, paints his characters with love, or at least affection.
Btw, sorry to "location drop" again, but I went jogging last night past Olivia Williams' house in Rushmore, as I do a couple times a week. It's a gorgeous neighborhood, but if you ever happen past it, you really get a sense of the heightened reality that Anderson produces. It's all the same stuff, it's not added-to or enhanced, but it just glows in Anderson's frame.
Posted by: Eep at July 28, 2006 12:25 PM
Rushmore is my favourite film as well. That said I have actually had an opposite reaction to you as regards to the Life Aquatic. At first I thought very little of it, but upon a few repeat viewings I am actually growing to like it a great deal more, with some warmth being injected into the characters, and I feel the two endings, in the sub and after the screening, are both magical.
I still think it is his weakest effort though, with Tenenbaums as his second best and Bottle Rocket a rung down from that.
Posted by: Grimm at July 29, 2006 2:40 PM
I heart Rushmore. Always have.
Beautifully written, well, review isn't exactly what we have here. More like a tribute.
You must buy all the DVD's and look at Wes' brothers' detailed rendering of so many scenes in the movies. The Tenenbaums sketches are something beyond spectacular. You could get lost for hours with the details. Right down to the type of wallpaper. And then there is the map of Rushmore. It's drawn like the hidden treasure map I always wanted to find in my neighborhood as a kid.
Then watch the films again and look at how Wes executed it. EXACTLY.
Like I said. I heart Rushmore.
Posted by: sparker at July 29, 2006 5:42 PM
One night last week, I was flipping around the TV channels where lo and behold, "Rushmore" was playing. I had seen this movie in the past and LOVED it and seeing it again (uncut and uncensored, thank you City TV) has made me appreciate this movie even more for its writing, its characters and its overall "feel". I wish I could be more specific exactly why I loved "Rushmore" but the Pajiba review just said it all and more. Thank you Pajiba!!!!
Posted by: kootenay girl at July 30, 2006 7:59 PM
I get a lump in my throat just thinking about that final scene. It's perfection. Thank you for this article--it made my day.
Posted by: sugarpants at July 31, 2006 12:40 PM
Best movie ever, man.
Posted by: brigita at July 31, 2006 1:03 PM
Spot on review, and beautifully encapsulates my feelings on Tenenbaums and Life Aquatic... both incredible films that I enjoyed a hell of a lot, but they're a little too "rococo" - too much awareness of how "quirky" and "detailed" the "Wes Anderson Style" can be. That said, I do have to say that I totally felt Steve Zissou, and that's one of the reasons why I love Bill Murray - even when he is trying to be completely still and inscrutable, there's always a tornado of emotion visible just below the surface. I adore him... and unfortunately, because of "Rushmore", I will also always adore Jason Schwartzman, which is too bad because I have the feeling that he's kind of a prick. I did cry at "Rushmore" but not because of the emotional arc of what was on screen - it was just the perfection of it; and yes, I too have been Max, and occasionally still am.
Posted by: jemiah at July 31, 2006 6:41 PM
Rushmore is my favourite film as well.
I think next time somebody asks me 'what's it all about?' I'll direct them here (optimistically thinking they'll bother to read it).
Posted by: Igg at August 1, 2006 6:02 AM
I've gotta be honest...when I saw that you were reviewing Rushmore, I groaned. Way to pander to your crowd -- there's hardly anyone here who doesn't count Rushmore among their favorites, so you're not exactly climbing any mountains here.
BUT...
I really enjoyed the review. While I was able to appreciate The Life Aquatic for it's own somewhat cold charms, I do agree that while making the film, Anderson's much vaunted attention to detail crushed his ability to craft believable characters.
In Rushmore, Anderson achieved an real balance.
Although, my all-time favorite Anderson moment has to be in Bottlerocket, when Dignan is going over the blueprints for the bookstore robbery:
"Okay, there do you see the star is me, right there, and I'll be in there. The 'X' is Anthony. Bob you're the '0' out here in the car."
Posted by: Stacy at August 1, 2006 12:16 PM
Mr. Carlson:
I feel you have severely misunderstood The Life Aquatic. Please give it another chance. At first I found it baffling, but once I comprehended the layered way in which the film-within-a-film device has been employed, it all came together for me. If you admire Rushmore, don't write off the material in Life Aquatic that seems off-putting--credit it with meaning in a film which is absolutely a (rewarding) challenge to grasp.
So many people walked out at the first onscreen credit at the end over "Queen Bitch", missing out on the sequence's suggestion that Ned lives...it's no wonder they don't know where to start in understanding what is "real" within Life Aquatic. Worth the time.
Posted by: Jon at August 3, 2006 5:40 PM
I completely agree that Rushmore is Anderson's finest film. I have seen it about 50 times and need to watch it at least once a month, its like an anti depressant for me. I always thought that as wes got further and further from his texas roots his films got less poignant and harder to relate to. For example, Rushmore was filmed at wes's childhood school, the line, "never in my wildest dreams did i imagine that i would have sons like these" said by blume is something that owen wilson's father actually said after the wilson boys got in trouble and the one that really gets me is when max and dirk are flying a kite and max begins his comeback by saying, "take dictation. possible candidates for kite flying society" and then max goes on to list several names that are actually the names of kids that wes anderson went to grade school with. Although all of anderson's films are somewhat like a children's fantasy novel or picture book he went from writing with a friend from a similar background, friends acting in his films, shooting his films where or right around where he grew up to then making films in a romanticized new york and then europe. it seems that he lost his way in more ways than one. Tenenbaums is still an amazing film though not as great as rushmore. I walked out of life aquatic completely crushed. I had waited so long just to realize that pt anderson, not wes anderson, is the best american film maker of the new generation. One final note, don't blame noah baumbach because his other films are great. squid and the whale is better in my opinion than anything anderson will ever make though completely different. I think they decided to work together because anderson is a nervous nerd and he probably wishes he could be more like noah in real life whereas noah probably wishes that his films could resemble some of the beauty that anderson has created in a fake life.
Posted by: curt zacharias at August 3, 2006 7:57 PM
rushmore was far superior but i dont hate the life aquatic by any means. fantasic music selections via bossa nova bowie and possibly the greatest movie comeback line ever:
"oh yeah? well you're pregnant."
Posted by: the-ian at August 3, 2006 8:10 PM
Absolutely brilliant article. It sums up exactly how I feel about Rushmore, Tenenbaums, et al. And yeah, I was in the shit.
Posted by: julie at August 4, 2006 12:13 PM
Sometimes I feel like the only Wes Anderson fan in the world who thinks that Rushmore is his weakest film. I place The Royal Tenenbaums in my all-time top 20 films. That one is perfect for me.
Posted by: Rob at August 4, 2006 4:58 PM
I agree that Anderson/Wilson are channeling Salinger. Its even more apparent if you read more than Catcher in the Rye and realize that at least half of Salinger's novels (the half that I have read, apparently) are all alike - genius children with absent parents searching for family and connection and struggling with suicide/martydom/heroism. Which is not a criticism, but it is almost the exact same themes worked over four times by Anderson.
Great review of a great director. I thought you were too harsh on Life Aquatic - even Tiger Woods three puts once in a while - but you were harsh on it for the right reasons. And I thought you practically forgot to mention Bottle Rocket - it closely competes with Rushmore for favorite Anderson movie. The amateur low-budget feel add to the warmth and humor. Or maybe I just enjoy watching Owen Wilson before he was The Owen Wilson. (Maybe growing up isn't necessarily all its cracked up to be.)
More importantly. Who are the next generation of young directors making incredible stuff. Anyone seen the next Bottle Rocket lately?
Posted by: Jack Straw at August 22, 2006 12:57 PM
I've enjoyed Wes Anderson's films for many of the reasons stated above. Especially enjoyed Rushmore and The Life Aquatic - which was a beautiful piece of art.
Perhaps it was a youth filled with reading Tintin (as suggested in Wikipedia) and Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Check out Jacques' "The Shark: Splendid Savage of the Sea" (which contains such chapters as The Narrow Escape of Dr. Fancois, In the Saucer We Meet the Abyssal Shark, Arthur's Frightful Ordeal, and Encounter in the Open Sea with The Great Longimanus). Hilarious, if you know what to look for.
Posted by: Vonkaltenborn at September 3, 2006 3:29 PM
Rushmore has always had a permanent spot in my all time top ten. In fact, next to Dog Day Afternoon and Taxi Driver, I have never felt that I knew the total person who was at the center of the film as well as I did with Max Fisher. And in regards to The Life Aquatic, I must be a complete batard because Bill Murray's performance as Steve Zissou is one of my all time favorites. In fact, Zissou may even eclipse Max Fisher in my opinion. Now that I think of it Herman Bloom may pass Max as well. I identified with Max profoundly but it is Bloom's pain, regret, and emptiness that is what realy moved me in Rushmore. To have such a powerful figure who has achived so much yet is completely empty magnifies the importance of Max and Herman's freindship. Or perhaps it's just because I think that Bill Murray is the greatest actor alive.(maybe)Oh and also, Tenenbaums relly remined me of Salinger's Franny and Zooie. Great book. Great movie.
Posted by: r.mutt at December 21, 2006 11:10 AM
Liked most of this review very much but have a very different feeling about Life Aquatic. Life Aquatic felt to me like the same Anderson themes again (which remain just as interesting after 4 movies, that's something) but without quite as many neat and happy endings. It seemed like what the other stories might have been like in the real world, like if Royal had not completely been reconciled with his family, etc. Life Aquatic dares to be a bit more lifelike and alienated in some ways, and a bit sadder, though still using the same special brand of very affectionate parody/cartoonishness and slight surrealism, with the kind of iconic characters, etc. The contrast of surreal/funny/outrageous/exciting/beautiful vs. suddenly sad got me. This movie hits you emotionally when you least expect it, well all of Wes Anderson's movies do that. I was a little thrown by Life Aquatic the first time I saw it, but by the second viewing, I was realizing how effective it was, it might even be my most favorite Anderson movie now. Wes Anderson's movies are beautiful and original, of course SO hilarious without ever being jokey, then touching when you least expect it, and speak to those of us from certain generations in a way that no other current writer/director does. At times Life Aquatic had a more wide open, wild, energetic, and sexy feel than the other movies. The whole thing about celebrity, and the beautiful romantic Cousteau-like locations and adventures and everything, was really fun and nostalgic and really made me smile (as one of us who was a kid back in the days of "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau" and worshipped him as so many of us did). Then the tragic loss. (Again, more like real life, not that the movie is a biography of Jacques Cousteau of course.) Life Aquatic is an incredible movie, and in the same vein as the other three but still fresh and really interesting and maybe even a bit more existential. It totally gets me. Rushmore is brilliant, so is Life Aquatic.
Posted by: urthcreature at February 4, 2007 7:25 PM
Rushmore is a great movie. It is close to the top of my favourtie movie list as well. Your review of it is well thought out and sincere. But I have to say I love The Life Aquatic as well. I don't understand why your dislike of the film. Steve Zissou is supposed to be a prick. You are not meant feel sympathy for him. That story is a departure from his other movies and I think it is supposed to be. You cannot expect Wes Anderson to do all his films exactly the same way. He would get sick of making the films and you would get sick of watching them. I think if you viewed the movie as a stand alone and not compare it to the other films you will see it is a great movie on it's own. Your distaste for The Life Aquatic is more about his departure from a format and less about the quality of the film.
Posted by: Tracey at March 20, 2007 2:43 PM