He Saved Latin, What Did You Ever Do?

The Genius of Rushmore Lies in Its Portrayal of Exiles Across Generations

“So what’s the secret, Max?”
“I guess you’ve just gotta find something you love to do and then … do it for the rest of your life. For me, it’s going to Rushmore.”

Rushmore is a movie crammed with many great moments, but this exchange between the middle-aged business tycoon Herman Blume (Bill Murray) and the precocious Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) establishes the emotional connection around which the darkly inspiring comedy revolves.

I remember being transfixed by Wes Anderson’s film when I first saw it in a theatre in early 1999, and …