This one has nothing extraordinary about it to compensate for seven years' staleness.
August (2008)
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for August
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.
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.
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.
Smartly scripted, convincingly atmospheric morality fable in which Hartnett, usually insubstantial as a good guy, plays a convincingly flawed character galloping toward the precipice.
...the picture ... provides Josh Hartnett with one of his most interesting roles, and it elicits one of his sharpest performances.
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.
Only an amusing cameo by David Bowie enlivens things, but he's onscreen for just about two minutes at the end.
There's not much to it, but Austin Chick's hyper-focused indie does serve as a nicely assured showcase for lead Josh Hartnett.
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.
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.
Merely serves to watch a company's ashes fall without really considering what started the fire.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. ![]()
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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. ![]()
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May 25, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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