Young lovers, learn from the movies and always remember: Exchange cell numbers! Inevitably, she is pregnant (otherwise they wouldn't be Evan's parents, now would they?), but her father tells her the baby died, and ships Evan to an orphanage. They promise to meet again, but Lyla's stage-door father ( William Sadler)forces her to leave town for career reasons, and they have no way to contact each other. Lyla ( Keri Russell) was a cellist and Louis (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) was an Irish rock singer, and in a flashback, we see them meeting in Greenwich Village, falling in love at first sight, and making love so very discreetly that they remain safely within the PG rating. In smaller roles, both Howard (how many film has this guy been in this year?) and Williamson bring class to characters that are merely plot accessories.Īugust Rush has its pleasures, with a strong cast and a fine music score compensating for a weak story.As it happens, his parents were musicians, and they met through their music. Williams has the worst written role in the film, but, to his credit, does the best he can. Even so young, he has the ability to lift weak material. With each role, Highmore proves what a major talent he is. The audience will believe how much one night, one chance meeting, can change a person’s life. It’s the films attempt at showing how a gifted child can create the music that keeps the viewer interested that, and the cast, who do a better-than-expected job pulling off the material.īoth Russell and Meyers put forth plenty of effort to bring sincerity to their characters. The amount of coincidences that have to happen seems endless. Hart, is awfully tough to swallow – some would say it’s contrived – and to a large extent that’s true. The screenplay, by Nick Castle and James V. There is more to the story, which includes a social worker (Howard) who wants to help and a pastor (Williamson) who gets Rush to Juilliard. Meanwhile, Louis is also in New York to reunite with his band. The symphony is to be played at Central Park where Lyla just happens to be scheduled to make a return to the stage. He gives Evan a new name, August Rush, and it seems like only moments until Rush finds himself at the Juilliard School of Music. He has a bunch of runaways playing music around the city for money ( Oliver Twist?). The Wizard (Williams), street musician, quickly realizes Evan’s gift music. Switch to today: Evan (Highmore) runs away from his orphanage to New York. Neither realizes that their son is alive. Meanwhile, Louis has also abandoned his career and has taken up business. This causes her to give up her career and, instead, focus on teaching. Later, pregnant Lyla gets into an accident and her father tells her the baby has died. They promise to meet, but situations occur, and Lyla’s over-protective father forbids it. A night of romance ends abruptly when the two awake the next morning. When it sticks to that, it is actually pretty strong it’s the way coincidences need to happen in order for the main story to play out that stretches the believability factor almost to the breaking point.Įleven years ago, on the roof overlooking Washington Square, N.Y., an Irish guitarist/lead singer named Louis (Rhys Meyers) meets a young beautiful cellist, Lyla (Russell).

The story tries to show the connection between music and musicians. Yet its capable cast, led by the talented young Highmore, and music make it entertaining viewing. Most likely, viewers will be three steps ahead of the story. There isn’t one thing in August Rush that will surprise the audience. Starring Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard, Mykelti Williamson and Robin Williams.

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