Rushmore (1998)

Director: Wes Anderson

After re-watching and enjoying The Darjeeling Limited, the wife and I decided to go back to an earlier Anderson movie which neither of us had seen in quite some time: Rushmore, Anderson's second full-length feature and his first with a significant budget.

This one holds up really well, and my wife and I actually picked up on things which we didn't remember catching on previous viewings (which were probably close to a decade ago).

The story follows Max Fisher, a 15-year old student at the Rushmore Academy, an elite prep school where Max excels in creating, running, and joining countless extracurricular clubs while failing miserably at anything academic. He falls in love with Ms. Cross, an attractive, young new teacher at Rushmore, but he hits a serious wall when confronted with the realities of their age differences and with a "rivalry" for her affections in the form of Herman Bloom (Bill Murray). Bloom is a self-made man who is miserable with his family life, but finds some rejuvenation with Ms. Cross. A jilted Max begins a series of retaliations against Bloom that soon spiral out of control, resulting in some rather serious consequences.

By now, just about anyone interested in films knows Wes Anderson's entire style. It is a very meticulously-crafted and curated visual style, coupled with a very dry, quirky sensibility in terms of character and dialogue. Stories often center on one or more people, young and old, who are in privileged economic positions but who deal with severe family dysfunction. Rushmore features some of those elements, though in a relatively grounded story. Max Fisher certainly fits the archetypal, precocious young person who is in plenty of Anderson's movies. In certain ways, he's way ahead of his peers, even if he's woefully immature in other ways. As usual with young people in Anderson's movies, a lot of the humor comes from just how dead seriously the young people take themselves.

This touches on one thing that both my wife and I realized upon this recent viewing: that for the first two acts of this movie, Max Fisher is an absolute monster. On earlier viewings, for whatever reason, I found him more charming and misunderstood, even as he was actively and aggressively seeking to destroy other people's lives. This time, though, I felt that I was truly seeing the emergence of a psychopath. Fortunately, the movie really is about Max eventually understanding the damage that he's done, atoning, and starting to move beyond the wildly egocentric stage of his life.

Along with 1994's Ed Wood, this was one of Murray's earliest
forays into quirky, very well-drafted "independent" type
comedies. The man was all but made for these roles.

The humor holds up really well, and is quite timeless. Anderson has never been one to rely on pop culture references, and it takes some fairly sharp writing to get dry humor to hit as well as he always has. That said, his is a particular brand of humor which isn't necessarily for everyone. I remember when I first saw Rushmore over two decades ago that I didn't completely "get it," though I found it amusing. Only after a few more viewings over the succeeding years did I start to really appreciate the more understated gags and the style, to go along with the broader humor.

Rushmore really is a great starting place for someone who's never seen a Wes Anderson movie but is curious. It's probably his most grounded, accessible work, aside from his first film Bottle Rocket, but the overall production value is far higher in this sophomore effort. Anderson's later movies are mostly bigger, zanier, and more cartoonish in ways, which may or may not be to some people's liking. Start here, then check out The Royal Tannenbaums. That should be a good gauge for whether you're a "Wes Anderson" person or not. 

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

Director: Wes Anderson

An enjoyable movie that fits right into the same quirky niche that Wes Anderson has carved out for himself in the world of cinema.

The Darjeeling Limited follows three American brothers - Francis, Peter, and Jack - as they reunite and attempt to bond in India, one year after their father's death. The trip is the brainchild of the eldest brother, Francis (Owen Wilson), whose domineering "big brother" nature is clearly resented by Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman). Each of the three carries around his own dysfunction, making for rather chaotic proceedings any time the three of them are together. This is especially trying since Francis's plan is that they spend plenty of time on the title vehicle, a somewhat cramped train that crosses the Indian countryside while Francis hopes to put the three of them back in contact with their estranged mother (Anjelica Huston).

If you're familiar with Wes Anderson's films, then this one would come as no real surprise to you. It bears nearly every hallmark of his live-action films (his animated ones, too, in some respects). Members of a privileged, dysfunctional family try to work out issues that have plagued them for their entire lives. They struggle. Something rather dark and violent happens. They work through things and find an imperfect but more tranquil place for themselves in each others' lives. And it's all presented in a meticulously-crafted and framed, dazzlingly colorful fashion. If you've seen one Wes Anderson movie, you'll recognize the style immediately. You'll probably also know whether you like it or not. The Darjeeling Limited isn't going to change your mind about that.

All that said, I've always liked Anderson' movies, to one degree or another. I remember watching Rushmore a couple of years after it came out, and while I can't say I fully appreciated it, I dug the quirky humor. The Royal Tannenbaums really got me, though, as I thought it was great. Since then, I've been sure to check out everything Anderson does, with slightly mixed results. The Darjeeling Limited is a solid offering from him, but not one I consider among his very best. If there's one thing that does set it slightly apart from his others, it's that he abandons his typically larger cast and focuses on the three main characters for nearly the entire film. Yes, there are secondary characters, sometimes played by famous actors, but it's mostly the three brothers and their fumbling awkwardness. It gives the movie, which is a tidy 91 minutes, an even more streamlined feel than some of this other movies.

Peter, as he inexplicably decides to buy a highly venemous
cobra. This is just one example of how good decision-making
is not the forte of any of the three brothers.

The performances are strong, with Owen Wilson playing the instinctively but unintentionally dominating eldest brother, and Brody and Schwarzman dryly seething at getting trapped within their own three-way sibling dynamics. We also get several faces familiar to Anderson's movies - brief appearances by Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston, and a few others, all of whom execute their roles well.

There is still the element common to all of Anderson's earlier films - that the characters are all wealthy, self-absorbed, damaged white folks. And there is even a slightly cringe-worthy "what we learned from the brown natives" vibe in the resolution in the third act. But it isn't wildly overdone, so it hardly spoils anything.

The Darjeeling Limited tends not to be mentioned as among Anderson's best-known or strongest efforts, but it's not because it's a bad movie by any means. Rather, I think it's simply because it's more limited in scope and doesn't have quite as tidy a resolution as some of his other movies. It's still highly enjoyable, though, and one that fans of his better-known movies should try out, if they haven't already.