Rushmore
Directed by Wes Anderson Starring Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Brian Cox
One of the most original and refreshing American comedies for years, Rushmore is an exuberant and strangely touching - though never mawkish - picture of the precocious 15-year-old scholarship student, Max (the marvellously droll Schwartzman), a self-absorbed, self-destructive fantasist put on academic probation when his grades suffer. Max falls head over heels for the new English teacher (Williams) and finds a benefactor in a steel tycoon (played by Murray on superb form) in this wholly endearing and wonderfully quirky comedy.
Mickey Blue Eyes
Directed by Kelly Makin Starring Hugh Grant, Jeanne Tripplehorn, James Caan, James Fox, Burt Young
In another slim variation on his trademark movie persona - a floppy-haired, eyelid-batting Englishman who's uptight but charming - Grant plays an English auctioneer in New York where he becomes engaged to an Italian-American schoolteacher (Tripplehorn), only to learn too late that her father (Caan) is a Mafioso. While the movie treads familiar ground, it does so with sharp comic timing from a mostly spirited cast which also features the husky-voiced, pizza-faced Joe Viterelli without whom, it seems, no Mafia comedy would be complete.
Varsity Blues
Directed by Brian Robbins Starring James Van Der Beek, Jon Voight, Scott Caan
Less flashy in its visuals and editing than one might expect from an MTV Films production - although accompanied by a de rigeur incessant rock soundtrack - this is a quite amiable college football yarn set in a small Texas town. As the local team nears the end of a near-perfect season, the pressure is building and the idealistic, Vonnegut-reading quarterback played by Dawson's Creek star Van Der Beek comes into conflict with the bull-headed, tyrannical coach (Voight).