Rushmore, an atypical college prep school movie, filled with knuckle-head jocks, snot-nosed kids, and an ambitious teenager named Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman). The second film, directed by Wes Anderson, combines humor and sharp, sarcastic one liners delivered by a well-matched cast. Anderson incorporates a wide-range of themes in this film including drama, love, and friendship. Each theme supports the underlying message of the film, maturity.

This message is delivered through the relationship and interaction of the main characters. Fischer, is an overachiever, whose mind is restless thinking about what club he should start next. Although he’s a lousy student, that does not stop him from organizing a movement to bring back Latin in a way to win over the attention and affection of new, first-grade teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). In spite of striving to be the best, Fischer has a secret. He's in the private Rushmore Academy on a scholarship, and his dad is a barber. He demonstrates maturity ‘for his age’, and defies the strict rules of headmaster (Brian Cox) and other adults who ‘color within the lines’.

Fischer quickly falls in love with beautiful and witty Ms. Cross. The idea of a relationship between the two is detestable mostly because Ms. Cross is two times his age. But, that does not stop him from devising a scheme to attract her attention by running a campaign for a school aquarium. In spite of the age difference, Ms. Cross seemingly acts as an enabler by allowing Fischer to inappropriately express his affection for her. The interaction between the two are equivalent to two juvenile ‘lovers’. In several scenes Ms. Cross perpetuates a docile and weak persona, including the dinner scene; where Fischer invites her and Herman Blume (Bill Murray) out for a dinner celebration after his extraordinary theater performance. In this particular scene, Fischer drinks alcohol and behaves rudely towards Ms. Cross’s dinner date.

Ms. Cross is not the only character to emulate a child. Murray, a frequent actor in Anderson’s films, plays Blume, a recent divorcee, who has two brainless kids attending Rushmore. Despite a large age gap, it does not take long for Blume to become a love advisor and close friend to Fischer. Shortly after, a love triangle begins to form between the three. This is met with revenge by Fischer who feels betrayed and hurt. Fischer alongside his right-hand-man (or boy) Dirk Calloway plot against Blume including cutting his brakes and filling his hotel room with bees. Anderson integrates music and close-ups of Fischer and Blume to amplify the tension during the ‘revenge’ scenes.