August Rush
by Kristen Sheridan
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Freddie Highmore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell, Robin Williams, Terrence HowardDirector: Kristen Sheridan
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 114 minutes
Published: 2008-03-01
DVD Release Date: 2010-09-07
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Model: 76368
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:
- There?s music in the wind and sky. Can you hear it? And there?s hope. Can you feel it? The boy called August Rush can. The music mysteriously draws him, penniless and alone, to New York City in a quest to find ? somehow, someway ? the parents separated from him years earlier. And along the way he may also find the musical genius hidden within him.Experience the magic of this rhapsodic epic of the
Movie Reviews of August Rush
Movie Review: All you have to do... is listen
Summary: 5 Stars
August Rush: [opening voice-over] Listen. Can you hear it? The music. I can hear it everywhere. In the wind... in the air... in the light. It's all around us. All you have to do is open yourself up. All you have to do... is listen.
August Rush is a fairy tale of a film, a really inspiring story of a boy in an orphanage who dreams of finding his parents--hearing music in the world and also inside himself that leads him ever onward in his quest. Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore) likes music "more than food" and he has talent to burn. He is a musical prodigy with an incredible gift.
He goes to New York where, drawn to the music, he finds the lair of Wizard (Robin Williams)--a Fagin-like entrepenuer, but instead of grooming pickpockets like Aftful Dodger, he grooms buskers like Arthur (Leon Thomas III). Maxwell 'Wizard' Wallace is a complex character, creepy and malevolent--but not entirely evil as he does believe in the power and grace of music. It is just that, when faced with someone as talented as Evan, he can't resist the temptation to exploit his talent. He does, however, give the boy a guitar and a flashy stage name: August Rush.
Wizard: You know what music is? God's little reminder that there's something else besides us in this universe, a harmonic connection between all living beings, every where, even the stars.
Robin Williams, master of comedy, is also adept at playing creepy sociopaths, such as Seymour Parrish in One Hour Photo or Rainbow Randolph in Death to Smoochy. His Wizard is perhaps his best creepy sociopath yet, and he wins the best of show award here.
Meanwhile, Evan's mother Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell), a cellist, is trying to find him, and his father, Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is trying to find Lyla. Louis is also a musician, naturally, and he sings and plays bass in a rock band. When the cops try to take down Wizard's squat, August rushes off and seeks sanctuary in a Gospel church. He hears some really good Gospel singing there, especially from a young girl named Hope (Jamia Simone Nash). She teaches him to read music, and about one second later he starts writing his Opus One, August's Rhapsody in C Major. Hope sees his music and goes to tell the Reverand about it. When they find him at the church organ, they hear his obvious talent and send him immediately to Julliard.
If this all sounds a little hard to swallow, it isn't. The film spins its fairy tale with such finesse that you are perfectly willing to suspend your disbelief. The music is great, especially the parts where August Rush discovers the guitar. Some really great singing by Jamia Simone Nash and Leon Thomas III, who both, by the way, have sung on The Backyardigans (who are HUGE to the toddler crowd, just ask my great nephew, Casson Hunter Porter). I wondered if Leon Thomas III was related to Leon Thomas who is known for his work with Pharoah Sanders, particularly the 1969 song "The Creator Has a Master Plan" from Sanders' Karma album. Thomas's most distinctive device was that he often broke out into yodeling. This style influenced James Moody and Tim Buckley, among others. It would have made for a really good story, but apparently the two Leon Thomases are not related.
Nevertheless, August Rush is quite inspiring, and fun for the whole family. Freddie Highmore did a fantastic job as August Rush, and I see that he was also Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Peter Llewelyn Davies in Finding Neverland--both with Johnny Depp. Add to that August Rush, and the young Mr. Highmore has made quite an impressive fairy tale triptych.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Widescreen Edition) (2005) .... Freddie Highmore was Charlie Bucket
Finding Neverland (2004) .... Freddie Highmore was Peter Llewelyn Davies
Velvet Goldmine (1998) .... Jonathan Rhys Meyers was Brian Slade
The Upside of Anger (2005) .... Keri Russell was Emily Wolfmeyer
Hustle & Flow (Widescreen Edition) (2005) .... Terrence Howard was Djay
Mr. Holland's Opus (1995) .... Terrence Howard was Louis Russ
One Hour Photo (Widescreen Edition) (2002) .... Robin Williams was Seymour Parrish
Death to Smoochy (Widescreen Edition) (2002) .... Robin Williams was Rainbow Randolph
The Fisher King (1991) .... Robin Williams was Parry
Popeye (1980) .... Robin Williams was Popeye
August Rush: Sometimes the world tries ot knock it out of you. But I believe in music the way that some people believe in fairy tales. I like to imagine that what I hear came from my mother and father. Maybe the notes I hear, are the same ones they heard, the night they met. Maybe that's how they found each other. Maybe that's how they'll find me. I believe that once upon a time, long ago, they heard the music and followed it.
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Summary of August Rush
There?s music in the wind and sky. Can you hear it? And there?s hope. Can you feel it? The boy called August Rush can. The music mysteriously draws him, penniless and alone, to New York City in a quest to find ? somehow, someway ? the parents separated from him years earlier. And along the way he may also find the musical genius hidden within him. Experience the magic of this rhapsodic epic of the heart starring Freddie Highmore (as August), Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard and Robin Williams. "I believe in music the way some people believe in fairy tales," August says. Open your heart and listen. You?ll believe, too.Similar DVD Movies
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