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August Rush (2007)
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Reviews Counted:33
Fresh:2
Rotten:31
Average Rating:1.9/10
Consensus: Though featuring a talented cast, August Rush cannot overcome the flimsy direction and schmaltzy plot.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for some thematic elements, mild violence and language.
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:23-11-2007
Synopsis: AUGUST RUSH is part romance, part gentle fantasy, but this sweet drama is all heart. When young cellist Lyla (Keri Russell) and rock musician Louis (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) meet at a party in the mid... AUGUST RUSH is part romance, part gentle fantasy, but this sweet drama is all heart. When young cellist Lyla (Keri Russell) and rock musician Louis (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) meet at a party in the mid 1990s, it's love at first sight, and they spend the night in each other's arms. But Lyla's father forces them apart, even though she later learns she's pregnant. Later, an accident lands Lyla in the hospital, and though her father tells her that her baby died, the child survives and is given up for adoption. AUGUST RUSH jumps to the present and begins to follow Evan (Freddie Highmore), an 11 year old who has grown up in a boys' home. As Evan embarks on a crusade to find his parents, he imagines he can communicate with them through his gift for music. His journey to New York City brings him into contact with Wizard (Robin Williams), a man eager to capitalize on the child prodigy's talent. Wizard gives Evan the name August Rush as he begins performing all over the city, but the boy's ultimate goal is to find the parents he has never met. From FINDING NEVERLAND to CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, Highmore has displayed an almost prodigious talent himself. He's a gifted young actor, and this emotional story is the perfect venue for his acting. AUGUST RUSH isn't a film for the cynics, but even the hard-hearted in the audience will have difficulty not being touched by this sentimental film. As in Evan's life, music plays a central role in AUGUST RUSH, and it's tough not to let your heart soar along with the melodies. Though it could draw comparisons to OLIVER! and ANNIE, this is a unique and heartwarming film. [More]
Starring: Freddie Highmore, Robin Williams, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Starring: Freddie Highmore, Robin Williams, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard, William Sadler, Mykelti Williamson, Ronald Guttman
Director: Kirsten Sheridan
Director: Kirsten Sheridan
Screenwriter: Nick Castle, James V. Hart
Story: Paul Castro, Nick Castle
Producer: Richard Barton Lewis
Composer: Mark Mancina
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for August Rush
...a lot better than I thought it was going to be and a lot worse than it could have been. (HD DVD and DVD Combo Edition)
... the "Oliver Twist" knockoff forgoes the social commentary of Dickens to play up the gooey romantic fantasy of music as the language of love.
The film didn't do as well as hoped at the box office, and the lackluster audience reception has resulted in a rather bare-bones Blu-ray release.
If you approach it with the right attitude, it's impossible not to be moved by this tale of music, loss, and passion.
When a movie is as disappointing and simplistic as this family melodrama, showing deleted scenes in the DVD edition (March 2008) only exposes more the film's shortcomings.
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