"I
felt like Bill Murray was actually acting in this movie," I said.
"He wasn't actually that great, but at least he wasn't outside the film,
commenting on it. You know, being Bill Murray."
I nodded.
"I mean, it was fine, some parts were great," he continued, "but I was expecting...."
"More?" I asked.
"Yeah, more. A lot more." My therapist said.
I thought for a minute.
"And what's all this hype about Bill Murray?" My therapist asked.
"You didn't like him?"
"He was Bill Murray! Everything I read was touting this as being something different for him. But it was just Bill Murray doing Bill Murray, like he does in every other film."
"Oh, I don't know," I said. My therapist and I were talking about Rushmore, the movie by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson. I had seen it just the day before. Rushmore is about 10th grader Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman), a compulsive clubmaker, playwright, and student of prep school Rushmore Academy. Max, ambitious but with a tendency to spread himself too thin, falls in love with Miss Cross (Olivia Williams), the Academy's first grade teacher. In his attempts to woo Miss Cross, Max ends up recruiting one of his few friends, Mr. Blume (Bill Murray) a disenchanted tycoon, to help him. When Blume also falls in love with Cross, things get messy.
"I
felt like Bill Murray was actually acting in this movie," I said.
"He wasn't actually that great, but at least he wasn't outside the film,
commenting on it. You know, being Bill Murray."
"Mmm-hmmm," my therapist said.
"But I'm not sure it was that great a performance, though. Just because you're willing to take off your shirt and look fat doesn't make you Oscar worthy."
"Was he nominated for an Oscar for this?"
"No, no. There was a lot of buzz about his performance, but he didn't get nominated for best supporting actor."
"Well, good."
"I liked Rushmore," I said, "but I didn't love Rushmore. It had that sort of quiet, leisurely deadpan comedy, like the Graduate or Gregory's Girl, which it kind of resembled. So, nothing was really outright hilarious for me, but there were an amusing feel throughout. Plus, I had just seen Payback--"
"Oh, that was awful," my therapist shook his head.
"And seeing just how compromised that movie ended up being, it was just great to see a movie where it obviously was the way the filmmakers intended it to be. Rushmore sure is different from most of the other movies out there."
My therapist recrossed his legs.
"I
think part of the problem for me was that I realized halfway through the
film that I didn't like Max much. I mean he was charismatic, but
in real life I don't think that I would actually like him. Rushmore
made me think of those W.C. Fields movies, where the characters are unlikeable
and funny. But Max isn't quite as funny as all that. Or quite as
unlikeable. But you do realize he's a pain in the ass."
My therapist looked out the window. Rain softly tapped at it, like someone discreetly trying to get our attention.
"I loved the play Max does of Serpico," I said. "I thought that was hilarious. And there's all sorts of little tributes in the movie. Like Max's dad is a barber, and in one scene where Max brings Blume in, the music from a Charlie Brown Christmas is playing. And both Charles Schulz's and Charlie Brown's dads are barbers."
"What does that have to do with anything?" My therapist asked.
"I don't know. It's kind of like that one kid who tortures Max being Scottish. It seemed like a little Bill Forsythe tribute."
"I was just expecting more," my therapist said, sitting up straighter.
"It's a shame about hype machines," I said. "I was expecting a lot, too, and was disappointed a bit."
"And it's supposed to make us think that the character grows during the course of it. A coming of age movie?"
"Well, he does grow," I said. "The movie seemed like it was a movie about the wisdom one gets in growing up. But it didn't really show much of that wisdom. It did a good job of seeming quietly profound and wise, but I don't really know if it was."
My
therapist stared at the plant in the office. The plant needed water.
I could see my therapist discreetly checking the clock in that way he does
about halfway through the session, which is different from near the
end of the session, where he wants you to see that he's checking the clock
and the session is about to end. "Some things are odd," I said, "and
sometimes those things seem really funny to some people. Rushmore
was charming and odd, but I wish it had been funnier."
"Yes," my therapist said. "Now, what was this you were saying about your realization about how your friendships work?"
"Uhhh," I said. "Well."
I looked at my therapist. "Seen any other movies?"
Some Photos Taken From Lawn Wranglers, The Rushmore and Bottle Rocket Fan Site