August Rush is
more like the cold November Rain.
Freddie Highmore
stars as Evan – an 11-year old music loving kid living in a
boys’ orphanage in Bethel, NY. While he has never known
his parents, and
doesn’t even have a clue if they are alive, he believes he
hears and feels them
in the music he recognizes all around him.
One night, Evan is compelled to follow the music he
feels all the way to
New
York City,
and thinks it may be leading him to the parents he longs to have in his
life.
Will Evan meet
his parents in New York? What adventures await him?
August Rush has
some great music, and even greater schmaltz.
Audience members who are willing to suspend
disbelief, put it in a box,
shove it into a dark corner of your basement and lock the door are the
ones who
will get more enjoyment out of the movie than others.
Writers Nick Castle and James V. Hart, as
well as director Kirsten Sheridan, desperately want the audience to see August Rush as a magical tale of destiny as the power of music makes the
unbelievable
happen, but pack in a few too many soap opera twists and turns that you
will
recognize from other famous movies.
We have the two
lovers who had a one night stand, Lyla (Keri Russell) and Louis
(Jonathan Rhys
Meyers), but we are supposed to believe it is true love because they were ripped apart
from each other in
An Affair To Remember-type circumstances.
We have the part Fagin-like and part
Springsteen-like Wizard (Robin
Williams) who sends his little street urchins out to play music and
bring money
back to the abandoned theater where they squat like in Oliver Twist.
Our young hero turns out to be some sort of musical
savant who can play
anything and write a complete orchestral piece even though he has
little formal
training. We even
get Lyla feeling
Evan’s troubles as if she has sensed a disturbance in the
force!
I guess those
willing to get wrapped up in it will feel the emotions and exultation,
but the
rest of us will have to settle for listening to the music.
1
½
Waffles (Out of 4)
August
Rush is
rated PG for some thematic elements, mild violence and language.
Copyright
2007 - WaffleMovies.com
