Rushmore Week

Do you remember that short window of time where Owen Wilson wrote nearly as much he acted? Probably not -- that period didn't last long. But you might remember one of the movies he wrote at that time, Rushmore. This is one of those movies "I've been meaning to get around to" that I finally did get around to earlier this week.

I was left with the strong impression that this film heavily influenced the makers of Napoleon Dynamite a few years later. It had that same sort of near-freeform vibe that indulged in occasional weirdness for weirdness' sake. There was one big difference, though; I thought Rushmore had more of a plot and told a complete story, as opposed to drifting from comic set piece to comic set piece.

It's not a razor sharp piece of writing, but it does make you laugh for how odd it is. And the funny quotient is definitely helped by the acting of Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman. I can see both why this movie never really caught with a mass audience, and why for some it has become a bit of a cult favorite.

I actually think I liked it more now than I would have if I had seen it at the time it was first released just over a decade ago. Back in 1998, I suspect I would have been expecting to see some sort of Bill Murray comedy in the spirit of a Ghostbusters or Groundhog Day. But the movie doesn't wholly focus on him (or even mainly focus on him), nor is it that brand of movie. Today, knowing that his career has now shifted a bit to include movies like Lost in Translation, I had expectations more in line with what I saw.

If like a little oddness in your comedies, and haven't seen Rushmore, I suspect you'd like it. I'd rate it a B-.