Rushmore (1998)

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Max Fischer, star of the Rushmore Academy, is put on academic probation and his life goes into a tailspin.

Wes Anderson’s sophomore effort is one of the funniest, oddly touching movies since Harold And Maude. You shouldn’t care what happens to Max Fischer he’s a snotty kid interested in anything but academics at the prestigious Rushmore Academy, a place he takes for granted, but Anderson’s script (co written with Owen Wilson) takes the audience through his trials and tribulations with great aplomb.

Of special note are the actors this is the movie that saved Bill Murray from making What About Bob II: The Bloodening and established his cinematic presence for the foreseeable future with a deadpan and resigned performance, and the rest of the cast steps up to the plate with Schwartzman effectively showing Max’s weakenesses without ever needing to point to them deliberately. Olivia Williams, sadly, will never match her role in this movie as a teacher deeply wounded by her husband’s death.

Of course, there’s the Wes Anderson set pieces that have become the thing most people jump on as being the most precious about his filmmaking and in this picture, it’s Max’s insanely over the top stage productions.

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• Sin City (2005)
• Sideways (2004)