This movie had almost no chance with me from the beginning, although that wasn�t really its fault. I had recently seen both The Royal Tenenbaums and Bottle Rocket when I saw this one, and it didn�t hold up well in comparison to either of those films. It has the same quirkiness of those Anderson/Wilson films, but something was missing. Finally, I figured it out. The story has no heart. In Tenenbaums, there is always the character of Richie, who is pure gold. And in Bottle Rocket, there is an extraordinary, wide-eyed innocence to the characters that is completely missing here. Max Fischer is simply too nasty to really keep my interest. In fact, that was true of everyone in the film, with two notable exceptions. Cassel is wonderful as the only honest person in the entire film. And I must mention Murray. He is brilliant; there is simply no other way to say it. The part certainly is playing to his strengths, but he embodies the character wonderfully. There is simply not enough �likeableness� to hold the film together. (It also seems to run a bit long, which is a real death knell here.) It is a classic in-between film; not as well made as Tenenbaums, and too jaded in comparison to Bottle Rocket. I am very interested to see where Anderson goes from here, because � in spite of my criticisms here � I think he is an extremely talented film-maker. He�s just standing on the edge of a cliff right now. Here�s hoping he knows to back away.
�You guys have it real easy. I never had it like this where I grew up. But I send my kids here because the fact is you go to one of the best schools in the country: Rushmore. Now, for some of you it doesn't matter. You were born rich and you�re going to stay rich. But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Thank you.� |
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