August Rush

2007 Drama

Estranged from his parents by circumstance and nudged toward a foster family, a young boy seeks out his long-lost folks and discovers prodigious musical talent in this family-oriented drama from Disco Pigs director Kirsten Sheridan. In the aftermath of a passionate night together above New York's Washington Square, a charismatic Irish guitarist named Louis (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) and a reserved cellist named Lyla (Keri Russell) are forced apart by fate. Despite the fact that they do not remain together, however, their fleeting union has created something amazing that neither could have ever anticipated -- a baby. Unfortunately, just after the child's birth, the mother is misinformed that the infant has died. Cut to 11 years later, when the child, Evan, is living in a Gotham-area boys' home and has developed an acute ability to listen to the sounds of the outside world -- hoping against all hope that his biological mother and father will turn up to claim him, while those in charge try to encourage him to open himself up to the possibility of adoption. Unduly rejecting these bids, Evan runs away into the city. Out on the streets, the child falls into the clutches of a manipulative, untrustworthy street person named Wizard (Robin Williams), who renames Evan "August Rush" and opens the boy up to the depth and breadth of his own musical talent even as he smells the opportunity to grow rich off of the foundling. Meanwhile, Evan/August's hope persists that he will be reunited with his folks, and Louis and Lyla, unable to forget their initial night of love, feel themselves being drawn back together by fate. more..

Director: Kirsten Sheridan

Starring: Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard, Robin Williams

Reviews

  • I'd rather August Rush went the whole way than just be lukewarm about it. Yes, some older viewers will groan, but I think up to a certain age, kids will buy it, and in imagining their response, I enjoyed my own.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    29 November 2012

  • Will not be for everyone, but it works if you surrender to its lilting and unabashedly sentimental tale of evocative music and visual poetry.

    Claudia Puig - USA Today

    29 November 2012

  • Feels like the cinematic equivalent of being stuffed with fruitcake and doused with a gallon of egg nog, so if that's the sort of thing you go in for around the holidays . . .

    Carina Chocano - Los Angeles Times

    29 November 2012

  • To describe August Rush as a piece of shameless hokum doesn't quite do justice to the potentially shock-inducing sugar content of this contemporary fairy tale.

    Stephen Holden - The New York Times

    29 November 2012

  • The Hollywood version of one of those fawning "60 Minutes" segments about musical prodigies. For most of it, I could hear the congested awe of Morley Safer.

    Wesley Morris - The Boston Globe

    29 November 2012

Awards

  • Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

    Academy Awards (2008)

     
  • Best Performance by a Younger Actor

    Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (2008)

  • Best Family Film

    Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards (2008)

     
  • Freddie Highmore

    Capri, Hollywood (2007)

  • Best Animation/Family Poster

    Golden Trailer Awards (2008)