August Rush (2007)
Directed by: Kirsten Sheridan
Written by: Nick Castle, James V. Hart
Starring Cast: Freddie Highmore (Even Taylor/"August Rush"), Keri Russel (Lyla Novecek), Jonathan Rhys Myers (Louis Connelly)
Supporting Cast: Terrance Howard (Richard Jeffries), Robin Williams (Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace)
What's it Rated?: PG
Genre: musical, drama, romance
Synopsis: When star cellist Lyla Novecek and rock musician Louis Connelly meet after their respective concerts, it's love at first sight. But Lyla's father forces them apart even after he and Lyla learn she's pregnant. Lyla's father gives the boy up for adoption without her consent and the boy spends the first 11 years of his life in a boys home. But he runs away to New York city to "follow the music" and to find the parents he's never met.
My take: Although featuring a very talented cast, August Rush fails to push through the flimsy directing and schmaltzy plot. I personally enjoyed it's a bit of a one-time-see because of the subject matter and it's rather "Oliver Twist" flavor.
Now, after bashing the entire thing, I gotta say that the film is almost worth watching for the music itself! The music is amazing and I would definitely like to get the soundtrack somewhere! From soft-rock to deep hearted classical and contemporary guitar improvisation, There's something for everyone here. But the best part of all is the collage sort of feel that is given by weaving all the "songs" together.
Because of the music I've even added another "out of 10" rating at the bottom of the post.
In conclusion, I'd say that August Rush gets mixed reviews from all over the spectrum of film-lovers. It's a new take on the musical genre, and a relief from the dark and "hopeless" films that Hollywood is producing these days.
Story: 4 out of 10
Humor: 6 out of 10
Drama: 7 out of 10
Music: 10 out of 10
Overall: 7 out of 10
2 comments:
Hey Graydon,
MRM review request for you:
Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) Directed by Steven Zaillian.
I think you would really enjoy this, even though you're not really a 'chess' person, per se. The story is extremely touching and it has a very interesting array of characters.
Highly recommended.
I'll look into it, Sam. I'm hoping to review "Bolt" pretty soon, and then after that "Dialtone", so I might not get around to it for a while, especially with Family coming down for Christmas.
I'll see if I can get if from the Library.
Thanks, Sam! See you on Friday night!
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