Wes World

Good morning Consumers, This is Please Consume, the movie newsletter that knows that ohana does indeed mean family.

The Holdovers is out.

And guess what? It rocks.

So much so that it inspired us to look at some of our favorite schoolhouse movies.

Caleb kicks it off with one of the best from the 90’s.

 Rushmore (1998)

Written by Caleb Madden

I love school. I know, I know, I’m a nerd. But I genuinely love school. I love books, I love learning. I especially love the romanticized version of school that can often be found in movies. I love the uniforms and clubs that do things. I love the tweed and silly petty politics. 

 Which is exactly why I am picking the hands down best school movie Rushmore.

Wes World

Rushmore is Wes Anderson’s second feature film. Which is insane considering it is easily one of if not the best movies he has made. Rushmore has everything that makes school movies great. It has the angry teachers, the uniforms, the countless clubs, the despondent parents, and the character at the middle of it all who has a lot of learning to do. And it is done so well here. But I think what makes all this even better in Rushmore is that it all is washed over with that Wes Anderson charm. If you haven’t seen a Wes Anderson movie and you don’t know what I’m talking about then you should go watch movies like Grand Budapest Hotel and Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

 It is this magical surrealism that has one foot planted in our world and another planted firmly in this fantasy world where everyone puts their glasses on at the same time, or everything has a pretty pastel color pallet. And I think that a school movie I the perfect place for this Wes touch. Rushmore follows the character of Max Fischer (played by Jason Schwartzman) who lives in a fantasy world that he has created. He goes to an elite private school and is very involved with all the clubs and societies. Yet, he is failing almost every class he is in. He believes that he runs this school but, he is just an overinvolved high school student. Max is so thoroughly illusioned that he truly believes he will get a full-grown woman who is also a teacher at the school to fall in love with him. 

Two lit Cigarettes

The other third of this movies comes in the form of the ever charming and wonderful Bill Murray. Murray’s character Herman is almost the antithesis of Max. He is a father of two boys, an executive at a steel company, and a desperately despondent husband. He wishes that he lived in the fantasy world that ax exists in and finds himself strangely drawn in by Max. 

 And lastly the thing that pulls it all together is the lovely Olivia Williams who plays Mrs. Cross. Mrs. Cross is the teacher that both Max and Herman fall head over heels in love with. And honestly, it’s not hard to see why. She’s beautiful, she smokes cigarettes, and she is a book nerd! What’s not to love. Each of these satellites comes crashing together in a wonderfully charming way.

Cozy Movie

I think that all of these things put together make for easily the best school movie ever made. Ultimately I think that what makes school movies so wonderful is their comfiness. There is something so nostalgic and charming about these stories told from a place that most of us spend a majority of our time in. Rushmore is a fabulous watch on cold winter day with a cup of coffee in hand. Just watching Max do his thing.

Today’s Scene