August Rush (2007)

A drama with fairy tale elements, where an orphaned musical prodigy uses his gift as a clue to finding his birth parents.

Director:

Kirsten Sheridan

Writers:

Nick Castle (screenplay), James V. Hart (screenplay),

Stars:

Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Freddie Highmore	...	Evan Taylor - 'August Rush'
Keri Russell	...	Lyla Novacek
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	Louis Connelly
Terrence Howard	...	Richard Jeffries
Robin Williams	...	Maxwell 'Wizard' Wallace
William Sadler	...	Thomas Novacek
Marian Seldes	...	The Dean
Mykelti Williamson	...	Reverend James
Leon Thomas III	...	Arthur
Aaron Staton	...	Nick
Alex O'Loughlin	...	Marshall
Jamia Simone Nash	...	Hope
Ronald Guttman	...	Professor
Bonnie McKee	...	Lizzy
Michael Drayer	...	Mannix

Storyline

This is a story of a music prodigy. Lyla is a renowned and beautiful cellist and Louis is a guitar player and vocalist at a club. Lyla and Louis fall in love once they meet each other following the music. Since they have different lives, they have to separate without seeing each other again. However, Lyla has had their baby - Evan, a prodigy born to music. Lyla has an accident and bears the baby but Lyla's father gives the baby to an orphanage without telling her, for fear of affecting her career. After that, both Louis and Lyla give up their music careers. Eleven years later, poor little Evan believes that his parents are waiting for him and goes to New York to find them. In New York, his musical gift leads him to success but also gives him some trouble. A monger uses Evan to make money and prevents him from achieving success. He escapes and runs into a church and people there are surprised by his gift and send him to the best music school, Juilliard. There he receives an education ...

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Plot Keywords:

prodigy | cellist | baby | rhapsody | mysterious stranger | 

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Taglines:

An incredible journey moving at the speed of sound

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some thematic elements, mild violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Europa Corp. [France] Official site [Germany]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 November 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

A szeretet szimfóniája

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£359,564 (UK) (23 November 2007)

Gross:

$31,655,091 (USA) (22 February 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Southpaw Entertainment (I), CJ Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Robin Williams' performance as "Wizard" was reportedly inspired by rock star Bono.

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Goofs

As Louis Connelly is walking to his limo, while speaking on his cell phone, his voice clearly does not match up with his mouth movements.

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Quotes

Wizard: What do you want to be in the world? I mean the whole world. What do you want to be? Close your eyes and think about that.
August Rush: Found.
Wizard: [pauses] Doesn't have enough yin. little more yang, ya know?
August Rush: yeah

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Connections

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Harlem Streetz"
Written and Performed by Charles Ray Mack (as Charles Mack) and Jamal Joseph
Courtesy of South Tribe Music / Pro-Fessionallz Music Group / Bankstone Entertainment

User Reviews

If you don't have a great imagination, you won't like it

If you love it, you'll LOVE it. If not, then the most you'll probably give it is an 'ok'. The movie requires the audience to have a somewhat willful suspension of reality as there are some slightly mystic themes interwoven in the storyline. But as the movie is basically centered on the power of music, the mystic elements make sense. It's completely about belief and faith in the intangible.

Personally, I loved the story. And the music was amazing. I had goosebumps throughout the entire movie. In fact, there was probably so much emphasis on the music that there was less character development than a lot of people would like. I liked this element of the movie, though, as it requires you to read between the lines. Not even the ending is handed to you nicely wrapped and on a platter. There's no wrap-up dialogue or epilogue sequence, just the audience's own inferences. Hence, if you don't have an imagination, you should stay home.