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Movies / Upcoming / August Rush
August Rush

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August Rush (2007)

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Reviews Counted:116

Fresh:44

Rotten:72

Average Rating:4.8/10

Consensus: Though featuring a talented cast, August Rush cannot overcome the flimsy direction and schmaltzy plot.

Australian Rating: PG [See Full Rating] Mild themes and infrequent violence

Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins

Genre: Dramas

Australian Theatrical Release:
Feb 21, 2008 Wide

US Box Office: $31,529,568

Synopsis: AUGUST RUSH is part romance, part gentle fantasy, but this sweet drama is all heart. When young cellist Lyla (Keri Russell) and rock musician Louis (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) meet at a party in the mid... AUGUST RUSH is part romance, part gentle fantasy, but this sweet drama is all heart. When young cellist Lyla (Keri Russell) and rock musician Louis (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) meet at a party in the mid 1990s, it's love at first sight, and they spend the night in each other's arms. But Lyla's father forces them apart, even though she later learns she's pregnant. Later, an accident lands Lyla in the hospital, and though her father tells her that her baby died, the child survives and is given up for adoption. AUGUST RUSH jumps to the present and begins to follow Evan (Freddie Highmore), an 11 year old who has grown up in a boys' home. As Evan embarks on a crusade to find his parents, he imagines he can communicate with them through his gift for music. His journey to New York City brings him into contact with Wizard (Robin Williams), a man eager to capitalize on the child prodigy's talent. Wizard gives Evan the name August Rush as he begins performing all over the city, but the boy's ultimate goal is to find the parents he has never met. From FINDING NEVERLAND to CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, Highmore has displayed an almost prodigious talent himself. He's a gifted young actor, and this emotional story is the perfect venue for his acting. AUGUST RUSH isn't a film for the cynics, but even the hard-hearted in the audience will have difficulty not being touched by this sentimental film. As in Evan's life, music plays a central role in AUGUST RUSH, and it's tough not to let your heart soar along with the melodies. Though it could draw comparisons to OLIVER! and ANNIE, this is a unique and heartwarming film. [More]

Starring: Freddie Highmore, Robin Williams, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Starring: Freddie Highmore, Robin Williams, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard, William Sadler, Mykelti Williamson, Ronald Guttman

Director: Kirsten Sheridan

Director: Kirsten Sheridan
Screenwriter: Nick Castle, James V. Hart
Story: Paul Castro, Nick Castle
Producer: Richard Barton Lewis
Composer: Mark Mancina
Studio: Warner Bros.

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for August Rush

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21 - 40 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

An honorable failure -- maybe even a noble one. Certainly, it's an ambitious one. But it is a failure.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
11/28/07
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Even the final few moments, which should have us choking up, seemed hurried and shot from the wrong angles.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment 2 Comments
11/27/07
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Cloying, annoying, and absurd. And that doesn't even include Robin Williams.

Full Review Source: Denton Record Chronicle (TX) | comment Comment
11/24/07
Boo Allen
Boo Allen
Denton Record Chronicle (TX)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
11/24/07
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A perfect example of everything wrong about Hollywood films, "August Rush" is an obstinately perverse, hammy piece of instant-gratification cinema that weeps from the screen as so much emotional sludge.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
11/23/07
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Watching this yucky emotional drama is like being sprayed with treacle from a high-pressure hose.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment 1 Comment
11/23/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If you can stomach an ultra- contrived plot with a ridiculously schmaltzy finale, August Rush will be music to your ears.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
11/23/07
Sun Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A show-stopping compendium of clichés, bogus emotions, duff dialogue and cringeworthy performances. Yet it’s so naively idiotic that it’s hard to hate. Better just to ignore it.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
11/23/07
Kevin Maher
Kevin Maher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Passionate about the importance of music, August Rush is an ambitious family film that just about keeps its head above the rising waters of gushing sentimentality.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
11/23/07
Daniel Etherington
Daniel Etherington
Channel 4 Film

Packing every cliché, coincidence and contrivance known to man (well, Hollywood screenwriters) into one glossy, saccharine, syrupy package takes some doing; but Highmore’s open-faced charm makes Evan’s sappy story tolerable.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
11/23/07
Rob James
Rob James
Total Film

Yes, August Rush is cheesy, almost embarrassingly so, but it's also irrepressibly sweet.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
11/23/07
Fairn Roberts
Fairn Roberts
BBC

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
11/23/07
Brian Marder
Brian Marder
Hollywood.com

It doesn't really work, and looks especially messy and corny next to a beautifully simple, music-driven romance like Once.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
11/23/07
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

The film-makers ought to be reported to social services.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
11/23/07
Tim Evans
Tim Evans
Sky Movies

...reeking heap of hogwash...

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
11/23/07
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

Saying August Rush is contrived is like saying that, in terms of continents, Asia is pretty big.

Full Review Source: Mark Reviews Movies | comment Comment
11/22/07
Mark Dujsik
Mark Dujsik
Mark Reviews Movies

That Robin Williams' character turns out to be a controlling bully is one of the picture's few surprises; everything else falls neatly into place, thanks to a script that needs about 128 coincidences to retain its forward momentum.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
11/22/07
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

This inspirational drama gets three stars for oddity value alone.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
11/22/07
Wally Hammond
Wally Hammond
Time Out

All this could totally happen, just like an oak tree might spurt out of the ground to start singing and dancing, the Arizona Cardinals could win the next 50 Super Bowls.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
11/22/07
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

Heart-warming, life-affirming fantasy - a magical, musical adventure, geared for families

Full Review Source: www.susangranger.com | comment Comment
11/22/07
Susan Granger
Susan Granger
www.susangranger.com
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
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