The Man Who Knew Too Little

"Rushmore" (1998)

The character: Herman Blume

What about him: A long-suffering millionaire father of two red-headed cretins who finds he admires and looks up to a rebellious, self-important high school student named Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman).

Murray moment: "Never in ... moremy wildest imagination did I ever dream I would have sons like these."

Analysis: After a couple of broad-comic duds ("Livin' Large," "The Man Who Knew Too Little"), Murray underwent another evolutionary change. It's the depth of his confusion, despair and disillusionment in Wes Anderson's "Rushmore" that holds the entire picture together. He's a man who has achieved success, but has found it disappointing. What he wants, and what he lacks, is promise. The moment in which he cautiously approaches a woman (Olivia Williams) on whom he has a crush, like a man crawling out from under a huge rock for the first time in years, is a gem of seemingly casual understatement:

Her: "I'm just having a little snack."

Him: "Whatcha got there? Carrots?"

(Columbia Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection)