Teen comedy for grownups, but not for squares, about an assortment of oddballs caroming off one another, never fitting together flush, at an exclusive private school called Rushmore Academy. The central oddball will not remain at the school for the duration, starting out on "sudden-death academic probation," frittering away far too much of his time in extracurricular activities (president of the Calligraphy Club, founder of the Trap and Skeet Club, eponymous director of the Max Fischer Players, etc., etc.), and soon having to pursue his calling as a theatrical entrepreneur (an adaptation of Serpico, a Vietnam War re-enactment complete with ear plugs and safety glasses under each seat) in the plebeian surroundings of Grover Cleveland High. There is always the danger, when piling oddness upon oddness, of appearing to be doing it solely for effect, solely as a stunt, and director Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket) does not always sidestep the danger. At the same time, he earns our respect for not trying to orchestrate fortissimo laughs in perfect unison, but instead drawing out widely dispersed dribbly little delayed-reaction titters. Every individual viewer must find his own fun. This is not, to reiterate, a teen comedy for teens; not a flattering likeness; not a pattern for imitation. Newcomer Jason Schwartzman, very earnest and joyless, vaguely Stanley Tucci-esque in his resemblance to a chisel, is a marvelous discovery as the hero, who, in addition to (or as part of) his extracurricular activities, develops a bit of a thing for a two-inches-taller, British-accented, widowed first-grade teacher (Olivia Williams), a thing that's more than a mere crush but perhaps a little less than l'amour fou. Unhappily, the school's leading benefactor (a restrained Bill Murray) develops a thing for her, too, and although no closer to her in age, even if closer in height, he gains the inside track as a full-fledged adult. When (or if) you catch yourself wishing the boy would notice the nice Asian girl his own age at Grover Cleveland, you will realize with mild amazement that these oddballs have come alive as human beings. Mason Gamble, Seymour Cassel, Brian Cox. (1998) — Duncan Shepherd
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