Rushmore

Wes Anderson stick with up his critically acclaimed but commercially disappointing entry feature of speech , Bottle Rocket , with a similarly quirky comedy that likewise became a cult classic after a lustreless boxwood agency ladder . Rushmoreis a deadpan come - of - age jewel about a precocious 15 - yr - old and his older industrialist acquaintance who both flow in love with the same teacher at the titular individual school .

All the now - intimate assay-mark of Anderson ’s filmmaking – from slow apparent motion to quirky costume design to needle - drops on the soundtrack – were already clear as daylight in his second feature .

Deadpan Humor

Anderson ’s movies are tragicomedies that take the air the fine stemma between screaming and heartbreaking . Going back toBottle Rocket , the humor of Anderson ’s movies has always been delightfully deadpan .

InRushmore , Jason Schwartzman brings a hysterically dry pitch way to wrinkle like , “ Your mind ’s as falsify as your ear . ” Arguably the funniest example is when Miss Cross ’ date enounce , “ These are O.R. scrubs , ” and Max obnoxiously quips back , “ Oh , are they ? ”

Needle-Drops On The Soundtrack

Anderson often use original scores – including inRushmore – but he ’s also renowned for dropping the needle on authoritative songs throughout his movies . The Darjeeling Limitedhas three Kinks songs , Fantastic Mr. Foxhas three Beach Boys birdcall , andThe Life Aquatichas a bunch of Portuguese - language Bowie enshroud .

TheRushmoresoundtrack mostly utilizes hits from the “ British Invasion ” era of the ‘ 60s and ‘ 70s , featuring such creative person as The Who , John Lennon , and the Rolling Stones .

Bill Murray

Owen Wilson is the role player most closely relate with Wes Anderson , because he crop with the director from the very start and he co - write his first few movies . But a close second is Bill Murray , whose deadpan delivery style and understated nuance are perfect for the Anderson cinematic cosmos .

RushmoremarkedAnderson ’s first collaborationism with Murray , and the role player has appeared in all of Anderson ’s films since . He ’s play lead roles ( Steve Zissou ) , smaller supporting roles ( Raleigh St. Clair ) , and scene - slip bit parts ( the guy who miss the train inThe Darjeeling Limited ) .

Quirky Costume Design

One of the most typical facet of Anderson ’s visual style is his use of quirky costume design . Chas , Ari , and Uzi Tenenbaum all wear equal red tracksuits . Steve Zissou and his crew all bear match red beanies . Richie Tenenbaum hide his case behind a headband , a pair of sunglasses , and a whiskers .

There are plenty of iconic , idiosyncratic wardrobe choices inRushmore . Max wears a red beret and a boatload of colourful vintage cord , while Herman wears Budweiser swim automobile trunk to a pool party .

Precocious Children

Precocious child can be found in many of Anderson ’s films . Anthony ’s little baby is smarter and more matured than he is inBottle Rocket . Moonrise Kingdom ’s Sam and Suzy are likewise wise beyond their years . The Royal Tenenbaumsis all about what happens when child prognostication grow up and go through a corporate mid - life crisis .

Considering it ’s name after a esteemed academy for gifted children , Rushmorehas a fairly eminent quotient of Andersonian precocious kid . Max Fischer is a 15 - twelvemonth - sometime who can negotiate with industrialists , pen and guide a hit play , and plan the mental synthesis of an aquarium .

Futura

Although it has n’t appear in many of his more late film , Futura used to be Anderson ’s favored font . It ’s usually the case used for the first step credit entry and chapter titles in Anderson ’s film .

InRushmore , Futura is used in all the subtitle detailing Max ’s adulterous endeavors . While the baptistery itself can be realize in many of his cinema , Anderson often meddle with the line height , letter spacing , and text alliance from movie to pic .

Slow Motion

From Martin Scorsese to Zack Snyder , many auteur include a plenty of slow motion in their stylized visuals . It ’s one of Anderson ’s favourite visual tricks . Slow movement is deep cinematic , particularly when it ’s paired with the perfect acerate leaf - drop .

There ’s a ton of slow apparent motion inRushmore . Anderson shoots in slow gesture when Max walks onto the leg to the literal - metre sound of thunderous hand clapping at the end of his “ reach free rein . ” The final terpsichore also plays in slow motion while the Faces murder “ Ooh La La ” dally at even speed .

Grief

The tragic side of Anderson ’s tragicomedy tends to manifest itself as sorrow . InThe Darjeeling Limited , the brothers mourn the loss of their begetter . InThe Life Aquatic , Steve mourns the loss of his right friend Esteban ( and by and by his alienated son Ned ) . InThe Royal Tenenbaums , Chas has become obsessed with his family ’s safety in the months since his wife died in a carpenter’s plane crash .

InRushmore , Max mourns the loss of his female parent while Miss Cross mourns the loss of her hubby . As Max bluntly points out , “ I guess we both have dead hoi polloi in our families . ”

Love Triangle

Max , Herman , and Miss Cross make upthe original Wes Anderson love triangleinRushmore . Love trilateral have since become a fall back plot percentage point in Anderson ’s films .

This trope can also be seen in Richie , Margot , and Eli ’s active inThe Royal Tenenbaumsand Steve , Ned , and Jane ’s active inThe Life Aquatic . In each case , Anderson has used the suitor who turn a loss out ( Max , Richie , and Steve , respectively ) to highlight the vileness of green-eyed monster .

Comically Unsympathetic Protagonist

There ’s a general rule of quarter round in screenwriting that the protagonist has to be likable so that the audience will steady down for them . But there are exceptions to this rule . virtuously equivocal antihero like Travis Bicklecan be even more compelling than traditional protagonists , and in a comedic context , an unsympathetic tug can sometimes get the biggest laugh .

Anderson has always had merriment putting comically unlikable , unsympathetic characters like Max Fischer , Royal Tenenbaum , and Steve Zissou through the ringer .

NEXT:10 Scorsese Trademarks In Goodfellas

Rushmore (1998) - Poster

Split image of Max holding a book and Herman hiding behind a tree in Rushmore

The dinner scene in Rushmore

The final scene of Rushmore

Bill Murray hiding behind a tree in Rushmore

Max sitting on a go kart in Rushmore

Max Fischer writing on the blackboard in Rushmore

Max does calligraphy in Rushmore

Max is arrested at school in Rushmore

Olivia Williams as Miss Cross in Rushmore

Max and Herman break ground in Rushmore

Jason Schwartzman as Max Fischer reading a book in Rushmore

Movies

Rushmore