Date: Fri 05-Mar-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

Rushmore-Murray

Full Text:

NOW PLAYING: "Rushmore" Is Not Career-Altering, But Still A Good Show By

Murray

By Trey Paul Alexander III

Bill Murray may not have captured Oscar's attention with his efforts, but his

work in Rushmore , a comedy from director/co-writer Wes Anderson, won him the

respect of many critics, including awards from groups in Los Angeles and New

York, and a Golden Globe nomination. However, the notion that Murray's

performance in Rushmore is "career-altering," as some have argued, is vastly

short-sighted and fails to take note of his under-rated turn in 1993's

Groundhog Day (itself an under-appreciated film), an interesting precursor to

the portrayal he gives in Anderson's eccentric movie.

In Groundhog Day , Murray plays a cynical big-city weatherman who reluctantly

travels to Punxsatawney, Pa., to do the annual remote broadcast covering the

town's festivities for Groundhog Day. When the smug TV star gets stuck in the

small Pennsylvanian burg and trapped in a loop in which he repeats the same

day over and over, Murray is given a rich field from which to mine scores of

comic and subtly dramatic gems. Most pertinent to Rushmore is Murray's ability

to convey his misanthropic character's descent from pessimism into sheer

nihilistic despair when he feels unable to escape the purgatory-like existence

of agonizingly reliving the same day over and over again.

As Mr Blume, a wealthy steel tycoon and alum of a prestigious prep school

named Rushmore Academy, Murray portrays a middle-age cynic who feels trapped

by his life with two brutish teen sons and a detached wife. Yet a ray of light

enters his life when he bonds with a kindred soul, Max Fischer (Jason

Schwartzman), a struggling tenth grade Rushmore student whose grades are

exceedingly low but self-confidence and extra-curricular involvement are

ridiculously soaring. Max is a geek who runs everything from the fencing team

to the drama club to the "Bombardment Society" (i.e., dodgeball) and Blume

connects with the sophomore's outrageous daring. He even agrees to lend Max

significant funds to research the building of an aquarium on school grounds, a

ploy to win the heart of Miss Cross (Olivia Williams), a first grade teacher

on whom Max has developed his first crush.

Problems arise when Blume also finds himself attracted to Miss Cross. When

Blume visits her to relay a message from Max, Murray hilariously conveys

Blume's budding interest. (The malcontent becomes so giddy with pent-up

excitement that once he delivers the note, he turns and runs away like an

over-stimulated grade schooler!) Initially acting only as Max's messenger,

Blume soon falls for the teacher as well, leading his young friend, now

feeling betrayed by his mentor, to become his bitter rival. Their ensuing

acrimonious war over Miss Cross contains some of the film's funniest moments,

but it also conveys the self-destructive, narrow-sighted levels to which some

people will sink in order to gain what they perceive will complete them.

Anderson's film is interesting in that it portrays its two heroes, Max and

Blume, as two oddballs that aren't particularly lovable. It's not that we

don't completely like them, but Anderson is not afraid to show us their flaws

and failings; he refuses to stack the deck unevenly in their favor.

Eventually, we come to root for them in spite of themselves, hoping they'll

overcome their mounting disintegration. As Blume responds, symbolically

speaking for us when asked his opinion about Max's latest stage opus, "I hope

it has a happy ending."

Rushmore is rated R for foul language and an inexplicable shot of brief nudity

toward the end. The frequent profanity is regrettable and mostly unnecessary,

especially considering many of the characters uttering such language are young

prep schoolers. Sure, many kids do talk like this, but must young screen

characters perpetuate such foul mouth inclinations?