Warning: Contains Spoilers
August Rush is a movie for people who love music. Rumor has it that my children’s choir director enjoyed the movie so much that she went out and bought it! (It’s not a rumor, actually. It was her copy that I watched on Friday.)
I agree that the soundtrack is extraordinary and I am clearly not alone in thinking so. When I went to request it at our library, I saw that I was number 17 in the queue. I am itching to give it a listen, though, and for that reason may have to purchase my own copy before then—of the soundtrack, though, not the movie. The music is just that good.
Unfortunately, I cannot say that I enjoyed this movie as much as I should have—not the first time that I watched it, anyway. A little boy gets separated from his mother at birth and spends the rest of the movie looking for her. I assumed that things would go well for him and yet…I didn’t know! I didn’t relax until the credits rolled, which is often the case for a heart-on-her-sleeve sort of gal like myself.
Keri Russell is as beautiful as always and Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays one of those Irish cuties that seem all the cinematic rage these days. (Though frankly I have yet to meet an Irishman who uses “me” as an adjective the way that he does. But that’s just me.)
Robin Williams costars in one of his most unnerving roles to date—a “tricky person” of epic proportions. He seems to have channeled both Bono and a Terri Shields-type stage mom to get into this character, and I spent the entire movie being thoroughly creeped out by the incredible creepiness of his role.
For that reason, and a couple of others, I would have to watch this movie a second time to truly enjoy it. It is to the credit of its direction that you don’t know if things will go well for the leading character—a little boy (Freddie Highmore) whose dimples alone are worth your time, Yet, because you don’t know you wind up…waiting. The ending, though cheesy, does not disappoint.
August Rush is a modern day fairy tale. Once you accept that—and hand over your cynicism at the door—you are in for a very good movie.
Another Warning: This movie is not for children under 13. There is too much that you’d have to explain to anyone much younger—homelessness, street violence, and one-night-stands being at the top of the list.
You decide for yourself.
Meanwhile, here is a clip of some of that amazing music that started out my discussion of this movie:
Cum gaudio et pace,
I loved this movie the first time I saw it! It is sort of a modern Oliver Twist story. I am a musician and I really appreciated and loved the music in this film and the faith that was evident in the characters, esp in the social worker. Thanks for writing about it!
My husband saw it at the hotel his last trip for work and he bought it for my birthday. It was so worth the music. I will say my way to worldy almost 12 year old saw it but she’s an exception. Loved the music and the little girl who sang gospel!
My husband and I just rented this movie last weekend and both loved it. What did I learn from the movie? That with faith, anything is possible. Don’t let people bring you down, just keep believing.
I, too, loved the music too! I kept telling my husband that the soundtrack must be great!!
The movie was pretty good, I thought, except yes, the part of Robin Williams was pretty creepy.
I really want to see this movie for many reasons, but I want to watch it with someone who has already seen it so I can get any hints I may need if the story line gets stressful – I’m absolutely pathetic when it comes to tension in movies… 🙂
~Jenny
Well, Robin Williams IS creepy. And anti-Catholic. But that aside, he’s also a good actor.
Thanks for the review on this…I was wondering, and it’s on my official list of movies to watch!
I’m just wondering…have you ever seen the Ralph Maccio movie called “Crossroads” (I think?) It’s kind of a “Faust” type movie if I remember correctly, a remake on the old theme. I remember really enjoying it. I think that’s the movie that made my brother want to learn guitar.
I just saw this movie last night, and I absolutely loved it! No, I wouldn’t watch it with the kids, but not because there was anything offensive in it, just too many suggestions of things that would raise too many questions. And I didn’t think Robin Williams was unnerving or creepy, just desperate, which is what you’d expect of a person with that sort of life. And the ending? Perfect! 🙂 I thought it was a lovely tale of faith.
I just watched it last night with the girls, and hope to write a review soon. I loved it. I thought, going into it, that it would definitely have a happy ending, precisely because it was a fairy tale. For me, one big clue to the happy ending was at the very beginning, when Evan says, “I believe in music the way some people believe in fairy tales.”
So, I settled in for a fairy tale, full of villains and close calls, but was 99.99% certain that the king would find his queen and the young prince would be reunited with his parents. 🙂
I told my girls that the one thing I would have changed in this fairy tale, to make it both more appealing overall and more appropriate for kids, would be to have Louis and Lyla already secretly married at the beginning of the movie (her controlling father, of course, having forbidden the union because his cellist was NOT going to marry a rocker) and all the rest could still unravel in the same way.
Wizard was definitely creepy. It was nice for my girls to have already seen a production of Oliver, so they caught that allusion.