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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Rushmore
Buena Vista Pictures


8.3

based on 31 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 46 votes
Read user comments
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FILM:

Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: R for language and brief nudity

Starring Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Seymour Cassel, Brian Cox, and Mason Gamble

A beautiful young teacher (Williams) attracts the attention of a homely tenth grade scholarship student (Schwartzman) who quickly falls in love with her. The student turns to his friend's father (Murray) for advice on how to woo the teacher. The situation becomes complicated when Murray himself becomes involved with the teacher.

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Wes Anderson Owen Wilson
DIRECTED BY:	Wes Anderson
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 29, 1999 Video: June 29, 1999 Theatrical: February 5, 1999
RUNNING TIME:	93 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

With its dry, throwaway humor and constant stream of chuckles, it creates its own category of stealth comedy.

100

Film.com John Hartl

For me, the experience was much like seeing Mike Nichols' "The Graduate" and George Lucas' "American Graffiti" before the hype machines kicked in.

100

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

A work of loopy, original comic genius.

100

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Murray, meanwhile, turns in a thrillingly knowing, unforced performance--an award-worthy high point in a career that continues, Max Fischer style, to defy the obvious at every turn.

100

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

One of the freshest, richest, most original films to come out of Hollywood in a very long time.

100

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Anderson fulfills the promise of his inventive "Bottle Rocket" with this quirky, often hilarious comedy, and Murray gives his most uproarious performance since the groundbreaking "Groundhog Day."

100

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Stylistically fresh and full of sweetness that never cloys, this is contemporary Hollywood filmmaking at its near best.

TNT RoughCut Brian M. Raftery

The scene-stealer here is Bill Murray, who, after 25 years of near-hits, finds his most fully realized character yet.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

I can't remember a teenage romance this engagingly offbeat since "Lord Love a Duck."

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

It's the funniest, saddest performance of the year in a film of uncompromising wit and heart.

Newsweek Jeff Giles

A marvelous comedy from deep in left field -- immaculately written, unexpectedly touching and pure of heart.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Rushmore is an almost indefinable genre of its own. A comedy with a menacing edge? An ironic romance? Hard to call.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Fast, exhilarating new comedy.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Weird, warm, monumentally entertaining comedy.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

It's too smart to be maudlin.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Wickedly funny.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Filled with brilliant, stand-out performances.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

One of the most original, good-hearted comedies in a long time, Rushmore is the sort of movie where the strangest sequences of discords somehow keep managing to reach giddily improbable resolutions.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A true original: a film that stands apart from the crowd, goes its own way and all but dares you not to like it.

San Francisco Examiner G. Allen Johnson

A weird, wonderful and funny work that stands as a true original. As if that weren't enough, director and co-writer Anderson has given Bill Murray his best role in years.

Film.com Elizabeth Weitzman

Battling back with droll seriousness, Murray imbues his sad-sack loner with a touching, funny dignity, and comes up with his best work in a very long time.

Time Richard Schickel

An often deft, frequently droll little movie.

LA Weekly Manohla Dargis

A beautifully off-center movie.

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

With the astonishingly assured newcomer Jason Schwartzman to bounce off of, Murray has his best comic foil since those feisty rodents in Groundhog Day and Caddyshack. [5 February 1999, Life, p.11E]

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

One of the great things about this unpredictable, exhilaratingly goofy fable is how it shows that even the clueless - and the tragically morose - have a shot at redemption.

Film.com Peter Brunette

One of the weirdest, hardest-to-place studio films I've seen in years.

TV Guide Sandra Contreras

This film is the product of artists working at the peak of their powers.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Seems torn between conflicting possibilities: It's structured like a comedy, but there are undertones of darker themes, and I almost wish they'd allowed the plot to lead them into those shadows.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Rushmore is one of those films that's so inconsequential that its memory threatens to fade away before the end credits have finished rolling.

Dallas Observer Michael Sragow

By the end, were it not for Murray, watching Rushmore would be like reading an article on "Why adolescents need Prozac."

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

You can't have Rushmore without Max, and though Anderson obviously planned it this way, the kid is finally too off-putting to tolerate.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 46 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Christopher J. gave it a6:
Bursting with Wes Anderson flavors, this film stretches caricatures to their limits and then let's us see novel elongated image anew. The characters are believable and amusing nearly beginning to end. Ranked within Anderson's filmography, I'm putting this second--after Royal Tenenbaums.

Charles F. gave it a6:
Mildly funny but overrated.

Akhil K gave it a10:
Hilarious from beginning to end, Rushmore is a laugh riot that will make you hurl over with painful laughter. The critics' reviews almost always credit Murray for being a "scene stealer". But i think it's Jason Schwartzman that really steals the whole show. With his hilarious look and expert comedic timing, Jason Schwartzman essentially defined what stealth comedy can accomplaish in a movie. Brilliant!

Curtis S. gave it a10:
This ranks up at the top for me. Murray's speech to the class sets the tone for the movie and and the thoughtful script: "Take dead aim on the rich ones, get them in your cross hairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything, but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget."

J. Ryan G. gave it a9:
Has a great big heart and a confused mind. Ah, youth!!

Jayson B. gave it a10:
A lot of fun and just a great movie. Good acting.

Eric S. gave it a10:
Without a doubt one of the best films of the 90s. Wes Anderson has proven again and again his status as the best living American director. By juxtaposing outragious situations with real, tangible emotions, he says more about the human condition than Bergman realism ever could.

Rushmore Buena Vista Pictures

Rushmore
Buena Vista Pictures