Review – Rushmore

At the outset I should admit that I ended up liking this film more than I thought I would. To be sure, many of the elements that I thought would put me off were in fact present, particularly the sexist competition between a misfit teenager and an odd millionaire for the attention of a school teacher. And it does seem to be working a little too hard to be clever. Excessive effort notwithstanding, for the most part the quirkiness works. It’s no Harold and Maude – to which it was compared by some critics no doubt thanks at least in part to the alienated youth theme and the Cat Stevens songs on the soundtrack – but it’s a cute bit of diversion. Mildly amusing