August Rush

This movie "August Rush" really touched my soul. I was an orphan and identified with this child's yearning and searching for his parents. Near the end of the movie, I started to cry like a baby. "August Rush" touched something tender buried deep inside my soul seventy-six years ago.

My father was killed in a car accident three days before I would have celebrated my third birthday. My father was also Irish and looked a lot like August Rush's father. It was during the Great Depression and my mother gave me up to the county's foster care agency.

I am now seventy-nine years of age. How I yearned down through the years for my parents, especially my Irish father. My mother was French. I met her many years later in New York City when I was in my early twenties. She was cold and rejecting towards me. I could not understand why. I was abandoned a second time by one of my parents.

The movie "August Rush" was healing to my soul wounded since early childhood;and again, in my early twenties. I knew where he was coming from as he longed for his parents. Instead of music, I used my talent of writing to deal with the lost of my parents.

"August Rush" made me fantasize during the movie that my yearning and searching for my parents were like this remarkable child.

I totally enjoyed this movie. The scenes have an appealing fantasy element, while at the same time, the plot manages to explore true-to-life human situations such as bullying of those who are different.

The music is incredible, and mostly consists of original scores. It includes gospel, rock and classical, seamlessly integrated in a new way that works extremely well.

The plot is somewhat predictable and possibly a little "sappy", but those elements are easily overcome by the moment-to-moment execution of the story. Think of a modernized "Oliver" with Robin Williams as Fagin to a group of homeless, musically talented kids...plus extra elements of romance and intrigue, and you will have a bit of an idea about this movie.

The three main characters are all physically "beautiful" people who manage to convey the story with a minimum of dialog. Additional characters, including Terrence Howard as the social worker, Jamia Simone Nash as the young girl in the church choir, and Leon G. Thomas as the young boy who befriends the musical prodigy, contribute strong performances and pizazz.

Someone sitting near me stated it is impossible for even a prodigy to learn music so quickly and at such a young age... However, this is not true. Check out Jay Greenberg, a young music student currently studying at Julliard. In the end, this movie is at least an endorsement and celebration of the significance of music in our lives and at most a transcendent, fun experience to watch.

I rarely like to see any movie more than once, but definitely want to see this again. Take the family…this is for children, teens and adults. Don't miss it is my recommendation!

Firstly, being a fan of Jonathan Rhys Meyers I had been hearing about this project for a while and I couldn't figure out how they'd make sense out of it. It does end up making sense even if it's a little far-fetched. It's about a son and his parents who all have to find each other, but my problem was that I couldn't figure out a way they could have gotten so separated in the first place. But luckily the writers did. It's pretty sappy and sentimental but if you're not that kind of person, I can't imagine you'd be interested in something like this anyway. It's the type of story that always comes out around this time of year, which is also the most sentimental time of the year. It gives you warm fuzzies so if you like something like 'Mr. Holland's Opus' or 'About a Boy' or 'Love Actually' you'd more than likely enjoy it.

I don't know if this qualifies as a musical but it should. It had lots of music in it although people didn't burst into fits of singing dialogue. The songs were normal songs, mostly original, and they were great. The young people involved were very talented, especially Jamia Simone Nash and Leon G. Thomas. Robin Willams and Terrence Howard had smaller supporting roles. (I've been saying that Williams and Bono resemble each other for 20 years so I'm glad he put the hat on and finally proved me right.) JRM and Keri Russell are co-stars who do their jobs well. But the star of the movie is Freddie Highmore. He's a good actor and I believe this was the first thing I've seen him in. I wouldn't be surprised to see him nominated for this.

I actually think this movie would be good for kids. I think there is maybe one bad word in it and maybe the way he came into the world might bother the extreme conservatives. But it's uplifting and a story about belief, especially belief in yourself. And I expect that'd be good for anyone to see, except maybe those who really hate too much sentimentality.

"August Rush" is the most magical story I've seen in years. It also has some of the biggest plot holes I've seen in years. But in the end I have to say the magic triumphs, and if you watch this movie you'll probably enjoy it IF you are aware of a few things up front.

First, this must be treated as a fairytale. That is, just as we accept that a big bad wolf can talk and a family of bears can cook porridge, we must make some large allowances for this film if we are to accept it.

I won't go into too much detail what these errors/allowances are (other IMDb members have already compiled quite a list in the goofs section), but if you are a musician, particularly a classically trained one, you'll need some serious suspension of disbelief. The story is predicated on the idea that a young boy is a musical prodigy. That's fine, but this kid is downright supernatural. If you can accept that he can see a guitar for the first time and immediately rock out like Stanley Jordan, then you're OK. If you can accept the notion that he leafs through a 1st grade music book for 10 seconds and immediately knows advanced musical theory (the equivalent of leafing through a basic arithmetic book and suddenly knowing calculus), then you're halfway there. And if you can accept that he has the power to change into a tuxedo faster than Clark Kent can put on his blue tights, then you're gold.

OK, enough cynicism. If you can get past all of that, then "August Rush" is really a wonderful and original story that will charm your pants off. Very loosely based on Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist", it's the story of an orphan in search of his parents. But this story revolves around the intangible power of music to draw people together. I've never heard of any story that makes such a powerful & moving metaphor for the power of music, and like I said up front, this powerful metaphor was enough for me to lose myself in the fantasy of it all. I probably would've fallen into it more readily if someone had told me to expect a fantasy. But instead I was halfway expecting realism, making much of the movie hard to swallow. Well now you've been warned, so go into it expecting a dreamlike fairytale and just let yourself be swept away by the magic.

A word of admiration for the late, great Robin Williams who plays a very complicated role here: a man who is basically a good guy but prone to inexcusable bouts of selfishness and violence. Not a particularly charming character but a memorable one, played with great skill.

'August Rush' is the name given to young Evan Taylor by Maxwell Wallace (Robin Williams), who teaches homeless musicians to become street performers.

But I'm jumping the gun here; let's start at the beginning. Freddie Highmore stars as Evan Taylor, who becomes the titular character. He lives in an orphanage, but he firmly believes his parents are still out there looking for him. His back story is told through back flashes and memories. His mother, the violinist Lyla Novacek, had a one-night stand with the lead singer of a rock band, Louis. I won't spoil why he ended up in the orphanage, but let's just say it was a series of events.

While it might not be the most believable story, I did find it rather captivating. Freddie Highmore is always a pleasure to watch, and I thought he did brilliantly in 'August Rush'. Being a musical prodigy, Evan (August) is able to hear music in everyday sounds. The film teaches us about the beautiful sounds all around us...if only we care to listen. Off course, the new generation only listen to the sounds coming from their mobile phones...(!)

The film has a very good score, and I loved the musical segments. I also enjoyed the (sort of) cliffhanger ending, instead of the film spoon feeding the audience as to 'what happens next'. Yes, it is might be a bit cheesy, but this is a feel-good movie after all and I liked it.

It's interesting to see the big divide between critic and audience ratings of 'August Rush'. According to the review site RottenTomatoes, 'August Rush' has an 82% rating from audiences, while critics only gave it 37%. Judging by the box office takings, I fully agree with the audience ratings. 'August Rush' earned $65.3 million on a $25 million budget. What's up with critics anyway...?

Would I watch it again? Yes.