AUGUST RUSH

"Follow the music"

Evan Taylor (Highmore) has been waiting to meet his parents for all of this life. Even though he has lived in the same orphanage for this entire life, he feels a connection to his parent through his music and he believes that if they hear it they will find him. Draw to New York, Evan runs away to the city and meets Arthur (Thomas III), a street musician who introduces him to his mentor The Wizard (Williams). He sees Evan's unbelievable talent for music and pushes him to explore it thoroughly, for his own financial gain. With the street name of August Rush, Evan knows that as his music reaches more people, there is a change this is parents will her but they have their own problems to deal with.

Music can be uplifting and the driving force behind life but can a movie about the power of music get your feet tapping?

Take a large helping of Dickens's 'Oliver Twist', add in a sprinkling of a modern American setting and then mix in a huge dollop of music and you have 'August Rush'. The story of an orphan who believes that his parents never wanted to give him up and he just needed to connect with them through his music for them to find him, is a simple premise that borrows from many a tale that has come before it but strangely it works.

The story of Evan Taylor's quest to find his parents through the power of this music is one that is touching and fun. Borrowing large amounts of themes and characters from 'Oliver Twist', 'August Rush' sees Evan run away from the orphanage to New York, where he meets Arthur, a street musician and artful dodger his same age who introduces him to The Wizard, a Fagan-like character who runs all of the street kids who play music around the city. The Wizard realises that Evan has a unique musical talent and could well be a musical prodigy. While this does sound very familiar, the film is still enjoyable all the same.

As well as the story of Evan's journey, we also have the story of his estranged parents. Louis, has now given up his music for business but longs for the girl he had one magical night with. Lyla has never got over the loss of her child after her father tells her he died in childbirth, so she could concentrate on her music career. Their journey is just as important as Evan's and the trio of tales drive the movie, to the melody of the music.

For a uplifting, feel good story to work you have to have a cast that can move to the rhythm of the story. Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers are good as Evan's estranged parents. Each of them has a large amount of emotion to display, as their lives intertwine and they head towards being together again. Robin Williams has fun as the 'Fagan' character Wizard, showing again that he can be just as dark as he can be comedic. There is also a good turn from the new artful dodger of the piece, Leon G. Thomas III. The movie rests on the performance of Freddie Highmore as Evan however and he proves again that he is the male child actor that directors like to go to. As he transforms into his August Rush persona, as given to him by the Wizard, you see Highmore really have fun with the role and the music which shows skill above his formative years.

While 'August Rush' is just a modern day, retelling and reimagination of 'Oliver Twist', this is a movie that will have you smiling throughout. This is feel good cinema, that might not break any boundaries but it will get your toes tapping.

Not Available

Oliver Twist

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2007