 |
|
|
|
| | | |
| MatchFlick Member Reviews |
All Movie Info
Starring:
Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Terrence Howard, Robin Williams, William Sadler, Alex O'Loughlin, Aaron Staton, Emelie Jeffries, Chenoa Andon, Dominic Colon, Jill DeMonstoy, Andrew Ginsburg, Chivonne Hill, Russ Klein, Deirdre Lorenz, Lisa Maris, Shareef McIntosh, Sarah Nichols, Gloria Parks, Kenny Shapiro, Josh Sudiker, Stewart Summers, Brian M. Wixson, Becki Newton, Sherman Alpert, Rob Pedini, Sam Masotto, Robert Aberdeen, Michael Drayer, Leon G. Thomas III, Jamia Simone Nash, Jamie O'Keefe, Henry Caplan, Michael Drayer, Aaron Gilberto, Matt Gorsky, Cathy Haase, Peter Iasillo Jr., Kaki King, Jen Kuhn, Anais Martinez, Noah Matthews, Tyler McGuckin, Bonnie McKee, Susan Mitchell, Zach Page, Jo Yang, Samantha Zweben, Princess Reymundo
Directed By:
Kirsten Sheridan
Written By:
Kirsten Sheridan, Nick Castle, Richard Barton Lewis, Jim Hart
|
|
|
| |
August Rush (2007)
 email this review to a friend
Movie Review by Jarrod
November 24th, 2007
|  |
'August Rush' borrows so heavily from Oliver Twist that it should acknowledge it in the opening credits, as the similarities appear frequently, with little subtlety, but I am hesitant to call it blatant plagiarism, as it does do some things differently, and Charles Dickens is not around to file a lawsuit. This is the story of a little boy named Evan (Highmore), who leaves his orphanage and goes on a search for his real parents, who are still alive, and even hoping secretly to reunite with each other, though neither knows about Evan. You see, Lyla (Keri Russell), his mother, is a cellist, whose father (William Sadler) gave Evan to the orphanage and told Lyla he died as an infant, so that she would focus on her career. Evan's dad is Louis (Rhys-Meyers), a former Irish rock singer, now apparently in business, and Lyla is a teacher. It was love at first sight for the two of them. Louis never knew about Lyla's pregnancy. Evan finds that he is naturally adept at playing guitar (and equally prodigious at most other things musical), and he is befriended by Arthur (Leon G Thomas III), who takes him to an abandoned theater, where a group of kids live with Wizard (Williams, looking a lot like he did in The Fisher King, but without a beard or a nude backside), who takes care of them, but also exploits them to one degree or another, sending them out to make money, which he may pocket, or take a large share of. He wants to expose Evan's talents to the world, so he changes his name to August Rush and eventually has him conducting his own symphony in Central Park.
I shouldn't have to tell you that Evan reunites with his estranged parents through the power of music, as the symphony draws the three of them together, unknowingly and unexpectedly. It is all overly sentimental, but also irresistibly sweet, primarily because of Highmore, whose performance is delightful. The plot is nothing more than a series of amazing (and highly implausible) coincidences, people being in the right place at exactly the right time. Williams is a bit creepy. Russell and Rhys Meyers are good, but not great. Terrence Howard, as a social worker, gets saddled with a pointless role. Most of 'August Rush' is far too convenient, and it tries to tug at the heartstrings, though it is not blatantly or painfully manipulative, yet it is not inspiring, sad, or moving, at least not to me. One thing I did like was the way that we get to see the world as Evan sees it, thus through the eyes of a musical genius, who does in fact see and hear music almost anywhere. This was a nice touch, but director Kirsten Sheridan chooses not to focus on it that extensively. Kirsten, it should be pointed out, is the daughter of Jim Sheridan, who directed In America, My Left Foot, and In the Name of the Father, all great films. And one of its screenwriters, Nick Castle, played Michael Myers in the original Halloween.
email this review to a friend
Comment on this Review:
Sorry, you must be a member to add comments to reviews.
Join or Login. |
 Subscribe to MatchFlick Movie Reviews through RSS
|
