Da, da, da
While I am an avid film buff and love original films and don't get me wrong, Rushmore's originality did not elude me this films just disappointed me. It took out the DVD version (plain old setup of feature plus trailer, nothing else, and you guys at the production company adding `Film Recommendations' which is nothing but marketing more films of the same company is not a f*****g bonus. Get a life!) and I was SO disappointed. I won't repeat the plot. If you've got this far in reading comments you probably know more than I did when I rented it. The film is good or excellent in these accounts: mise en scene direction, photography, some of the acting, and editing. The rest plot, soundtrack (urgh!) and some acting was very average to bad. The script was the oddest of them all. And here is where Rushmore can claim to be original. But the problem is that it gets zero on credibility, even within its own quirky world of Rushmore. These kids do not exist in real life, and the worst thing is that the characters' motivation is just non-existent. It doesn't make sense why the teacher keeps permitting Max to come and talk to her. No millionaire lives in a small town like that town Rushmore's takes place in. No millionaire has really that kind of spare time, and no one really acts like he does with his own kids. As a matter of fact, every aspect of the plot and characters is trying to be original while staying within the lines of the general basic notion of the stereotype (jock, nerd, rich guy, minority student) or institution (prep school, public school, head principal, school clubs and activities, etc.). While it looks recognizable, the behavior of everyone in this universe of Rushmore is just not normal. And to expect to run a plot that doesn't really revolve around comedy and not bore is very hard, and the film just fails at this. Half way through the film I kept asking myself where is this going to?! The film ending's yields very little answer to this question. There are other original American films (I recommend every one of them) that have similarities to Rushmore American Beauty, Mumford, Elections. All depict Americana in its quirkiest form, with odd characters and adolescents shown as real people, if indeed at times in extreme representation. But none bore me like Rushmore. As a matter of fact, watching Elections and the Virgin Suicide (yet another disappointment, just not as bad as Rushmore) last week enforced the feeling that this movie could have gone elsewhere.
