Movie Notes: August Rush

August 2nd, 2008

= 2 stars

Starring Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Directed by Kirsten Sheridan

Synopsis

Rock singer Louis (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) and cellist Lyla (Keri Russell) separate, and are forced to give up their son, Evan (Freddie Highmore). He grows up alone on the streets of New York, with an otherworldly musical ability and a wish to reunite his estranged family.

The Good

• Robin Williams, aping Bono, has an oddly aggressive role as a pied piper shepherd of street-musician orphans.

The Bad

• A huge amount of faith in “love at first sight” — the entire story of separated lovers who can’t find their child assumes that they must reunite and be parents, although if neither has any clue where their kid is and haven’t been together in many years, there isn’t any indication that they deserve each other.
• Predictable: Based on the mood at the beginning, you just know the couple will reunite at the end.
• Amazingly lackluster music — harmless and entertaining, but certainly nothing these three main characters should be so enthralled by. That’s not a good thing, as because of the weak “destiny” driven plot, music is their only motivation.
• Most musicals have some shots of humor, crazy visuals, or dance numbers. Absolute zippo on all counts.

Conclusion

As musicals go, I can look beyond weak plot if there’s awesome music, dance numbers, or something else to make up the difference (Dreamgirls, Across The Universe, West Side Story). August Rush is awkwardly lacking in all other departments. Skip it.

IMDB: August Rush
Wikipedia: August Rush
Rotten Tomatoes: August Rush 38%