Max Fischer, the hero of "Rushmore,'' is an activity jock, one of those kids too bright and restless to color inside the lines. Although he's a lousy student, that doesn't stop him from organizing a movement to keep Latin on the curriculum of his exclusive prep school. His grades are so bad, he's on "sudden death probation,'' but in his spare time, he edits the school magazine and runs the fencing club, the beekeeping club, the karate team, the French club and the Max Fischer Players. With his bushy eyebrows and black horn-rims, he looks a little like a young Benjamin Braddock from "The Graduate.'' Max, played by Jason Schwartzman, has a secret. He's in the exclusive Rushmore Academy on a scholarship; his dad is a barber. Always dressed in a tie and snappy blazer (unless in costume for one of his activities), he speaks with an unnerving maturity and is barely able to conceal his feelings of superiority for the headmaster (Brian Cox
One marriage, two movie reviews: Rushmore
3 Mar, 2021 12:42 AM
5 minutes to read
Greg and Zanna revisit what may or may not be the greatest film in history.
SCORES
Sense of connection (with spouse): 1
HE SAW Rushmore has been so close to my heart for so long that last week, when I heard it was finally available to stream, I was terrified. I had been deeply and profoundly affected when I first saw it, one lonely weekend 15 years ago, after which I almost immediately entered into a crippling depression. I don t blame Rushmore for that, but it would be weird if it hadn t played some part, because I understood it immediately to have been a masterpiece, a creation that held all humanity in its hand, allowing me to see and love the world in ways I had never imagined. In that moment I understood something about how life could be lived, which I hadn t before, which was partly about the lives of the characters and partly about the creation of which they were a part.