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Movies / On DVD / August
August

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August (2008)

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Reviews Counted:25

Fresh:9

Rotten:16

Average Rating:4.8/10

Consensus: Josh Hartnett puts in a well-intentioned performance but overall, August only superficially explores its dotcom-burst setting.

Runtime: 88 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Josh Hartnett (30 Days of Night) stars in this drama from XX/XY director Austin Chick. Tom Sterling (Hartnett) finds that all aspects of his life are failing at once: he can't keep a romance with... Josh Hartnett (30 Days of Night) stars in this drama from XX/XY director Austin Chick. Tom Sterling (Hartnett) finds that all aspects of his life are failing at once: he can't keep a romance with his girlfriend (Naomie Harris of the Pirates of the Caribbean series) alive, his business is going under, and his family continues to be a source of pain and struggle. Augustcostars David Bowie, Rip Torn, Adam Scott, and Emmanuelle Chriqui. [More]

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Naomie Harris, Adam Scott, Robin Tunney

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Naomie Harris, Adam Scott, Robin Tunney, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Rip Torn, Andre Royo, David Bowie

Director: Austin Chick

Director: Austin Chick
Screenwriter: Howard A. Rodman
Producer: Charlie Corwin, Elisa Pugliese, David Guy Levy, Josh Hartnett, Clara Markowicz
Studio: Original Media

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Reviews for August

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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This one has nothing extraordinary about it to compensate for seven years' staleness.

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
12/01/08
David D'Arcy
David D'Arcy
Screen International
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

A movie that makes a good initial public offering.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Insiders | comment Comment
10/18/08
Jonathan W. Hickman
Jonathan W. Hickman
Entertainment Insiders

If you want to see ignorant self destruction, see Troy Duffy in "Overnight" and forget this film---the worst mistake Josh Hartnett has made in his career.

Full Review Source: Monsters and Critics | comment Comment
07/27/08
Ron Wilkinson
Ron Wilkinson
Monsters and Critics

While this modest indie offers high-tension plotting, it's real substance is the contrast between Hartnett's charismatic, hard-charging business persona and his intimacy-challenged real-life relationships.

Full Review Source: Star Magazine | comment Comment
07/16/08
Marshall Fine
Marshall Fine
Star Magazine

Anyone who thinks that Josh Hartnett isn't a true movie star should see his riveting, high-wire performance in August, a shrewdly dramatized look back at the bursting of the dot-com bubble.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
07/16/08
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly

Smartly scripted, convincingly atmospheric morality fable in which Hartnett, usually insubstantial as a good guy, plays a convincingly flawed character galloping toward the precipice.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
07/14/08
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday

...the picture ... provides Josh Hartnett with one of his most interesting roles, and it elicits one of his sharpest performances.

Full Review Source: MTV | comment Comment
07/14/08
Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder
MTV

This stylish, well acted drama chronicles one once-successful dot-com's efforts to stay afloat in the wake of the Internet boom's bust.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/11/08
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Only an amusing cameo by David Bowie enlivens things, but he's onscreen for just about two minutes at the end.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
07/11/08
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post

There's not much to it, but Austin Chick's hyper-focused indie does serve as a nicely assured showcase for lead Josh Hartnett.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
07/11/08
Elizabeth Weitzman
Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News

Has a dark desperation that’s morbidly compelling. But the movie’s amoral momentum is fatally slowed by an acronym-heavy script and flimsy characterizations that offer fine actors...little to play.

comment Comment
07/11/08
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

all gloss and pizzazz but mostly pizz and no azz.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
07/10/08
Paul Brenner
Paul Brenner
Filmcritic.com

August is a brooding, boring indie drama about the death of the culture-wide hallucination that was the dot-com bubble, and the moment when countless dot-com millionaires on paper became real-life paupers.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
07/10/08
Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin
AV Club

Merely serves to watch a company's ashes fall without really considering what started the fire.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
07/10/08
Matt Pais
Matt Pais
Metromix.com

August seems to be missing something essential -- a prologue? Or maybe it's not what's missing that's the problem, but what's here.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
07/10/08
Nick Pinkerton
Nick Pinkerton
Village Voice

August tries to bluff its way into success as a deeply felt parable of greed, loyalty and family ties, but ends up being just as fatuous as those burst-bubble paper-tiger corporations it eviscerates.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
07/09/08
Stephen Garrett
Stephen Garrett
Time Out New York

Rodman's potentially intriguing idea about the 2001 crash of the dot-com biz just months before 9/11 is poorly executed by helmer Chick (XX/XY), who doesn't take full advantage of his star cast, headed by Josh Hartnett, Naomie Harris and David Bowie.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
07/07/08
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

A procession of anger mismanagement protagonist episodes of rude behavior with assorted unbelievably receptive babes, and a glutton-for-punishment old flame (Naomie Harris) whom he manages to re-con into bed, before she wises up all over again.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
07/07/08
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze

Hartnett does windbag cockiness well, yet the overriding conception of his character and the Dot Com phenom in general is so straightforward and unrevealing that his effort goes for naught.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
07/07/08
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine
 
 
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Latest News for August

August 16, 2008: A procession of anger mismanagement protagonist episodes of rude behavior with assorted unbelievably receptive babes, and a glutton-for-punishment old flame (Naomie Harris) whom he manages to re-con into bed, before she wises up all over again. Opens in new window
More...

July 07, 2008: A procession of anger mismanagement protagonist episodes of rude behavior with assorted unbelievably receptive babes, and a glutton-for-punishment old flame (Naomie Harris) whom he manages to re-con into bed, before she wises up all over again. Opens in new window
More...

May 25, 2008: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

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