August Rush (C- or 1.5/4 stars)
'August Rush' is a big 'ole melodrama directed by Kirsten Sheridan. Cared for on the streets of New York by a mysterious stranger named 'Wizard' (Robin Williams), orphaned musical prodigy, Evan Taylor (nee August Rush, played by Freddie Highmore), uses his innate gift as a clue to finding his birth parents, Lyla & Louis (Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers). This pseudo-fairy tale is one of the most contrived films I've ever seen. Oddly enough, it's the sappy sentimentality (a detrimental aspect of most movies) of 'August Rush' that SAVES it from being a complete disaster.
Having just finished performing a concert in NYC ... sheltered, Juilliard-trained cellist, Lyla Novacek, heads for a party in Washington Square. She wanders to the roof of the building and finds a kindred spirit in Louis Connelly, an Irish guitar player. Tritely, they discuss music, life ... and fall in love on the spot. After making love & sleeping on the roof all night, Lyla wakes and rushes to the hotel where her demanding father awaits. Like 2 ships that pass in the night, it seems that Lyla & Louis would never see each other again, except, Lyla would soon discover that she is with Louis' child. For purposes of this flighty plot, Lyla gets in a car accident (in her last trimester), thinking she's lost the baby. In reality, her devious father put the child up for adoption and never told her. WHAT!?!?
11 yrs. go by. Lyla lives her life in a fog, always wondering what life would have been like with Louis & her baby. Louis lives his life in a fog, always wondering where Lyla could be. Meanwhile, Evan Taylor (later naming himself August Rush) sits in an orphanage, bullied by his elders. After running away, August discovers his amazing musical talents as he wonders the streets of NY. Every bird chirp, engine rumble, shoe scuffle, etc. awakens his mind to the beauty of sound & music. He believes that he'll find his parents if only they hear his soul (his music). Since all 3 are musically gifted, this will obviously just happen. Grr.
Everything culminates in a big shebang ending when August (inexplicably) gets to play a rhapsody that he has created in a Central Park concert. After gaining knowledge that her child is in fact alive, Lyla sets out on her own mission to find August ... through music. Oh, and just coincidentally, Louis arrives back in NY and stumbles upon August. In doing so, he gives some life-affirming advice to the little chap {insert banal dialogue, languid pauses, eye winks, and forced smiles}. Nearly everything in this film is absurd. This, of course, includes Robin Williams. But he's absurd in almost everything anyway; so I'll give him a pass.
Trying to be a modern fable on how music and fate can co-exist, 'August Rush' simply fails. The fact that a 'force' holds this threesome together is not presented well onscreen. What you have is a large chunk of the screenplay involving 3 boring characters gazing up at the sky, twitching their heads here & there as if they 'hear' something no one else hears, or 'feels' something no one else feels. Ahh, it must be that mystical connection! I just didn't buy it. Maybe someone else will, and that's good for them. Freddie Highmore is awful here; showing none of the emotion & talent that he's exhibited in the past. The rest of the cast (including Terrence Howard) are just okay. When a movie is solely built upon heaps of contrivances, it's hard to take seriously. At least the ending (what will be a letdown for most) is different enough to warrant faint praise.
Having just finished performing a concert in NYC ... sheltered, Juilliard-trained cellist, Lyla Novacek, heads for a party in Washington Square. She wanders to the roof of the building and finds a kindred spirit in Louis Connelly, an Irish guitar player. Tritely, they discuss music, life ... and fall in love on the spot. After making love & sleeping on the roof all night, Lyla wakes and rushes to the hotel where her demanding father awaits. Like 2 ships that pass in the night, it seems that Lyla & Louis would never see each other again, except, Lyla would soon discover that she is with Louis' child. For purposes of this flighty plot, Lyla gets in a car accident (in her last trimester), thinking she's lost the baby. In reality, her devious father put the child up for adoption and never told her. WHAT!?!?
11 yrs. go by. Lyla lives her life in a fog, always wondering what life would have been like with Louis & her baby. Louis lives his life in a fog, always wondering where Lyla could be. Meanwhile, Evan Taylor (later naming himself August Rush) sits in an orphanage, bullied by his elders. After running away, August discovers his amazing musical talents as he wonders the streets of NY. Every bird chirp, engine rumble, shoe scuffle, etc. awakens his mind to the beauty of sound & music. He believes that he'll find his parents if only they hear his soul (his music). Since all 3 are musically gifted, this will obviously just happen. Grr.
Everything culminates in a big shebang ending when August (inexplicably) gets to play a rhapsody that he has created in a Central Park concert. After gaining knowledge that her child is in fact alive, Lyla sets out on her own mission to find August ... through music. Oh, and just coincidentally, Louis arrives back in NY and stumbles upon August. In doing so, he gives some life-affirming advice to the little chap {insert banal dialogue, languid pauses, eye winks, and forced smiles}. Nearly everything in this film is absurd. This, of course, includes Robin Williams. But he's absurd in almost everything anyway; so I'll give him a pass.
Trying to be a modern fable on how music and fate can co-exist, 'August Rush' simply fails. The fact that a 'force' holds this threesome together is not presented well onscreen. What you have is a large chunk of the screenplay involving 3 boring characters gazing up at the sky, twitching their heads here & there as if they 'hear' something no one else hears, or 'feels' something no one else feels. Ahh, it must be that mystical connection! I just didn't buy it. Maybe someone else will, and that's good for them. Freddie Highmore is awful here; showing none of the emotion & talent that he's exhibited in the past. The rest of the cast (including Terrence Howard) are just okay. When a movie is solely built upon heaps of contrivances, it's hard to take seriously. At least the ending (what will be a letdown for most) is different enough to warrant faint praise.