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 & 10 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:

baby | cellist | prodigy | rhapsody | genius | 

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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:

August Rush

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

Liv Tyler and Claire Danes were each considered for the role of "Lyla Novacek" before Keri Russell was cast.

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Goofs

A policeman chases August out of the former Fillmore East and up the stairs of an elevated subway station, but there are no elevated subway stations in lower Manhattan, where the Fillmore East was located.

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Quotes

Jennifer: [sees Louis on the projector] Oh my god! Is that you?
[Louis doesn't answer]
Jennifer: When were you going to tell me you were in a band?
Marshall: [Cutting in before Louis could answer] I'm sure there's a lot of things our Louis hasn't told you darling, like who'd did you write the song for?
Louis Connelly: [turns away from Marshall] I told you this was a bad idea.
Marshall: That's it, go on! Walk out on us again!
[Louis turns back to him]
Marshall: Eh, Lou?
Louis Connelly: [Walking towards Marshall] Say what you have to say Marshall!
Marshall: No man, go on!
[...]

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Connections

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008)

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Soundtracks

Sound Circle Song
Written and Performed by Impact Repertory Theatre
Produced by Jamal Joseph

User Reviews

Wow

This is a fantastic movie. Well done. During our screening at a particularly tough part for the title character, I heard people in the theater say "No, no..." The level of "buy in" and suspension of disbelief is high.

Even the dissonance of Wizard and Lila's father was handled superbly. Robin Williams hit just the right note in his portrayal of Wizard. The actors playing Agust Rush/Evan Taylor and his mother and father were amazingly well cast.

This is truly a symphony of a film. You'll enjoy it, your children will enjoy it, and you will walk out of the theater knowing that, for once, your ticket money was well spent.