Acclimate yourself to the frenzied vibe and you'll feel the movie grow into itself as an urban fairy tale whose rapturous finale stakes a wishful claim on the redemptive power of love and art.
Comment
11/20/07
August Rush (2007)
38
%
Tomatometer
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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 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... [More]
Starring: Freddie Highmore, Robin Williams, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Director: Kirsten Sheridan
Reviews for August Rush
Even though August Rush is sappy, it's the kind of sweetness that everyone needs once in awhile -- like a big, honkin' ice cream sundae.
11/20/07
Egregiously self-indulgent and mawkish fairy tale.
11/20/07
[A] joyful movie -- so joyful, in fact, that its soul and heart triumph over the many flaws of some of its separate parts.
11/20/07
this crowd-pleasing fable does a lot of good things, but it also makes so many glaring missteps that it’s hard to get truly caught up by the magic.
11/19/07
Freddie Highmore, still the cutest kid in the movies, is an endangered species, about to turn 16 in February and allegedly not intending to continue as an adult actor.
11/19/07
Flawed, yet, does what I, as a musician, find difficult to do. It conveys in words&pictures that wonderful feeling of being caught in a much grander current of rhythm&melody.
11/19/07
A fanciful fairytale blending elements of Oliver Twist, Ferris Bueller, Peter Pan and The School of Rock likely to entertain and enthrall preteens for a couple of hours.
11/19/07
So gloriously, astonishingly nutty that it almost qualifies as an instant camp classic...the visual flamboyance only adds to the pretentious goofiness of it all.
11/19/07
Overly sentimental it may be, but August Rush took me quite willingly to a cinematic world full of music and hope.
11/18/07
As a real-life story, this would be preposterous. But as a fantasy ode to the spiritual qualities of music in our lives, it works beautifully.
11/18/07
In spite of its flabbergasting self-absorption, August Rush's devotion to following through on its screwy internal logic is almost genius.
11/18/07
Following in the footsteps of her father Jim Sheridan (In America), helmer Kirsten has concocted a contrived, sentimental urban fantasy--a reworking of Oliver Twist-- far more impressive in music, sound, and imagery than in plot, dialogue, and words.
11/15/07
Fans of soppy movies will probably love it, but everyone else should steer clear.
11/15/07
May be the best film I have seen in 2007. August will have you Rushing to theatres to witness his musical masterpiece.
11/15/07
A poetic joy: if you can suspend your subscription to the definition of film Hollywood has groomed us to accept, you'll love this film.
11/13/07
An often charming urban fantasy that teeters perilously on the brink of preciousness but never quite topples over.
11/09/07
Those who are prepared to forgive the film its stock characters and lack of emotional subtlety may allow themselves to be ravished -- by the sumptuous soundtrack, if nothing else.
10/26/07
Many of the so-called twists feel strained, though preteens are unlikely to complain, and there's nothing here to really frighten an even younger crowd.
10/23/07
Top CriticLatest News for August Rush
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November 28, 2007:
A fanciful fairytale blending elements of Oliver Twist, Ferris Bueller, Peter Pan and The School of Rock, and likely to entertain and enthrall preteens for a couple of hours. 
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November 25, 2007:
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