August Rush

August Rush
Promotional poster
Directed by	Kirsten Sheridan
Produced by	Richard Barton Lewis
Written by	Nick Castle James V. Hart Paul Castro
Starring	Freddie Highmore Keri Russell Jonathan Rhys Meyers Robin Williams Terrence Howard William Sadler Alex O'Loughlin
Music by	Mark Mancina Hans Zimmer (theme)
Cinematography	John Mathieson
Editing by	William Steinkamp
Studio	Odyssey Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	November 21, 2007
Running time	113 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25 million
Box office	$65,278,569 (worldwide)

August Rush is a 2007 drama film directed by Kirsten Sheridan and written by Paul Castro, Nick Castle, and James V. Hart, and produced by Richard Barton Lewis.

Deciding to run away to New York City, musical prodigy Evan Taylor begins to unravel the mystery of who he is, all the while his mother begins searching for him and his father searching for her.

Plot

In 1995, Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) is a cellist in an orchestra under strict rule of her father (William Sadler). Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is the lead singer of "The Connelly Brothers". Lyla and Louis have a chance meeting during a party and sleep together while a man plays his harmonica down on the street.

Lyla returns to her angered father and heads back to Chicago, finding that she is now pregnant with Louis's son. Louis continues waiting for Lyla in New York and eventually gives up. Months pass and Lyla starts 'showing'. After an argument with her father, Lyla runs out into the street and is struck by a car. Due to the accident trauma, she gives birth prematurely and her father secretly puts her son up for adoption, allowing her to believe that the baby died as a result of the accident.

Eleven years later, Evan the quietly genius son (Freddie Highmore) is living in an orphanage outside the city. Evan has the ability to hear music wherever he is. He is convinced that his parents will find him. He meets Richard Jefferies (Terrence Howard), a social worker who gives Evan his card, and Evan soon runs away to New York City to find his family.

Louis now lives in San Francisco and has since left his band. He meets one of his former bandmates and is invited to his birthday party. Louis is hesitant because he has not spoken to his brother Marshall (Alex O'Loughlin) since the fallout, but he ultimately chooses to go. At the party, his brother plays clips of the band performing. Louis confronts his brother, resulting in a mini-fight and his girlfriend (who was not aware he was a musician) leaves him. Lyla lives in Chicago and also gave up music, but teaches music to children privately. Her friend encourages her to rejoin the Symphony, but Lyla rejects. She is called to her father's deathbed and he admits to her that he put her child up for adoption and is somewhere in New York. Upon hearing this, Lyla abandons her father to his fate and decides to return to New York.

Evan is taken in by Wizard (Robin Williams), a homeless musician who believes in his art. Evan tries playing the guitar and is so good that Wizard gives him his old spot in Central Park and his guitar, which he beforehand gave to Arthur (Leon Thomas III). The old derelect theatre they are living in is raided by the police. Wizard distracts them and allows Evan (who is now called August Rush) to escape. Evan takes refuge in a church where Hope, a young girl at the church (Jamia Simone Nash) introduces him to written notes. He picks up this skill so quickly, as well as playing the pipe organ, that she, surprised, shows him to the kind pastor (Mykelti Williamson) who enrolls August in Juilliard School. August immediately begins writing his symphony.

Once in New York, Lyla decides to participate in the Symphony as well as look for her lost son. Richard, who is also looking for Evan, helps her identify her child and posts a bulletin for his finding. Wizard sees the posters and destroys those he finds. Louis decides to reconnect with Lyla and flies out to Chicago to find her. He waits for several hours and when he asks one of the occupants of her apartment where Lyla is, the woman mistakes Lyla for her friend, and says she's on her honeymoon in New York. Louis decides to go to New York anyway and perform with his old band.

August's gift is considered astounding among all at Juilliard and he is even given his own performance at the same symphony that Lyla is performing in. Wizard intrudes during a rehearsal claiming to be his father, pulls August out of the school, and puts him back on the streets performing for him. August meets Louis, who is wandering through the park, and they play together. August tells him of his dilemma and Louis tells him to do what he wants to do.

It is now the day of the Symphony and Louis's comeback to singing. August is still not allowed to attend the event. August decides to leave Wizard and go anyway, with some help from Arthur, who also rebels against Wizard. August flees through the subway and towards the Symphony.

Louis is heading towards the airport when he notices Lyla's name on a banner for the Symphony. He exits his vehicle and begins running towards the park. August arrives in time to perform his rhapsody and so does Richard (who discovers Evan and August are the same person). Arthur and Hope are also in the crowd watching August's performance. Lyla begins walking away from the park, but is attracted back towards the event. Louis arrives at the park and reunites with Lyla. August finishes his rhapsody and smiles at Lyla and Louis, realizing that they are his parents. Wizard is last seen playing his harmonica alone in the subway. The film concludes with August saying "The music is all around us, all you have to do is listen."

Cast

• Freddie Highmore as Evan Taylor / August Rush
• Keri Russell as Lyla Novacek
• Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Louis Connelly
• Robin Williams as Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace
• Terrence Howard as Counselor Richard Jeffries
• William Sadler as Thomas Novacek
• Jamia Simone Nash as Hope
• Mykelti Williamson as Reverend James
• Leon G. Thomas III as Arthur
• Alex O'Loughlin as Marshall
• Bonnie McKee as Lizzy
• Timothy Mitchum as Joey
• Becki Newton as Jennifer

Music

• "Moondance"
  Written by Van Morrison, Performed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers
• "This Time"
  Written by Chris Trapper, Performed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers
• "Bari Improv"
  Written by Mark Mancina and Kaki King, Performed by Kaki King
• "Ritual Dance"
  Written by Michael Hedges, Performed by Kaki King
• "Raise It Up"
  Written by Impact Repertory Theatre, Performed by Jamia Simone Nash and Impact Repertory Theatre
  Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song
• "Dueling Guitars"
  Written by Heitor Pereira, Performed by Heitor Pereira and Doug Smith
• "Someday"
  Written and Performed by John Legend
• "August's Rhapsody"
  Written by Mark Mancina

The final number with Lyla and Louis begins with Lyla playing the Adagio-Moderato from Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor.

Except for "Dueling Guitars", all of August's guitar pieces were played by American guitarist-composer Kaki King. Kings hands are used in close-ups for August Rush.

Composer Mark Mancina spent over a year and a half composing the score of August Rush. "The heart of the story is how we respond and connect through music. It's about this young boy who believes that he's going to find his parents through his music. That's what drives him." The final theme of the movie was composed first. "That way I could take bits and pieces of the ending piece and relate it to the things that are happening in (August's) life. All of the themes are pieces of the puzzle, so at the end it means something because you've been subliminally hearing it throughout the film." The score was recorded at the Todd-AO Scoring Stage and the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Brothers.

Reception

In a review by USA Today, Claudia Puig commented that "August Rush will not be for everyone, but it works if you surrender to its lilting and unabashedly sentimental tale of evocative music and visual poetry." The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the film positively, writing "the story is about musicians and how music connects people, so the movie's score and songs, created by composers Mark Mancina and Hans Zimmer, give poetic whimsy to an implausible tale."

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 37% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 110 reviews. "Consensus: Though featuring a talented cast, August Rush cannot overcome the flimsy direction and schmaltzy plot." On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 38 out of 100, based on 27 reviews.

Pam Grady of the San Francisco Chronicle called the film "an inane musical melodrama." Grady said "the entire story is ridiculous" and "Coincidences pile on, behavior and motivations defy logic, and the characters are so thinly drawn that most of the cast is at a loss." Edward Douglas of comingsoon.net said it "does not take long for the movie to reveal itself as an extremely contrived and predictable movie that tries too hard to tug on the heartstrings."

Roger Ebert gave the movie three stars, calling it "a movie drenched in sentimentality, but it's supposed to be. The movie also came to a very sudden end leaving it unfinished."

Jamila Gavin compared the film to Dickens' Oliver Twist and Coram Boy.

Shawn Johnson used August's Rhapsody during her Floor Exercise performance during the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Awards

Despite the mixed reception, August Rush was praised for its music. The song "Raise It Up" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 80th Academy Awards, but lost to Once

External links

• Official site
• August Rush at the Internet Movie Database
• August Rush at Rotten Tomatoes
• August Rush at Metacritic
• August Rush at Box Office Mojo
• August Rush at Allmovie
• Scoring Session Photo Gallery at ScoringSessions.com