Freddie Highmore plays a young musical prodigy named August Rush in the Warner Bros. motion picture that shares this protagonist’s name. Never having known anything about his parents (including why they may have abandoned him), August has spent his life convinced that they’re out there somewhere, and furthermore that they want to find him every bit as much as he hopes to find them. Evidence be damned, August resolutely believes this based on his claimed mystical connection with the universe, through the secret language of music. Also never mind that the kid has never actually played a note of music. (Strangely, in an early scene, the boy seems to have never encountered the act of whistling, though he’s demonstrably grown up in the presence of, oh, other human beings.) August sets out on his own to track down his long-lost parents, sensing that music will lead the way.
Well, those parents are indeed out there, played by Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys Myers. I won’t tell you much about their circumstances or predicaments, but suffice it to say that this is indeed a fairytale, where obstacles and hardships will be encountered, characters both helpful and hindrance will be met, and magic will carry the day.
Having no musical talent myself, I nonetheless understand that musically-inclined folks may have a soft spot for a flick like this. Furthermore, I do consider myself somewhat of a philosopher, and I have no trouble accepting the story’s central conceit - however belabored in this case - that music is tuned into the universe on some basic - e.g. magical - level. This reviewer is still on board at this point, and even willing to buy into some schmaltzy silliness… if it’s earned. But…
The story stumbles and falls two deal-breaking times (as if once wasn’t enough). The first occurs in setting up the premise. We’re asked to believe that August’s parents fall in love at first sight, which, okay, is par for the course in a fairytale. But the movie doesn’t come close to making us believe it. These two lost souls know nothing about each other, and seem more infatuated with the mood of that first night together than anything else. Only viewers who are just itching to be taken away by a lovey-dovey tale - no matter how overreaching - will accept this movie’s romantic set-up. This fatal flaw comes back to haunt the climax (which I’ll get to).
The second deadly error occurs when the story abruptly and bafflingly leads to our young hero attending Juilliard School of Music. Are we really expected to believe that the administrators at such a high-profile school are so enamored by this kid’s talent that they choose to overlook his lack of a legal guardian or parent? That this would be a question is not acknowledged by the movie. That’s the biggest of the movie’s contrivances, but there are more such lurking in the corners.
The problem surely lies in the film’s unapologetic self-absorption. August Rush is full of itself, and happy to remind us at every opportunity. Note the casting of an overbearing Robin Williams as “Wizard,” an aging performer who puts musically gifted children to work on the streets of New York City. Observe the scene where August seems to be conducting the cacophony of New York City daytime street sounds. Or the way one talented character, as she lays eyes on August for the first time, is emotionally affected in a way that Hollywood has done to death.
When all is said and done, the happy ending does arrive. There are some guilty-pleasure chills to be had during the big finish. Too bad the ending deserves (or belongs to) a better movie than the one we’ve just watched. Many will consider it a miscalculation that the movie assumes by this point that the story and its characters have worked their magic on us (not to mention each other).
Still, the movie hits a lot of notes that many people find reliably heart-warming and charming. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that August Rush, whatever problems I may have with it, is indeed a crowd-pleaser, designed with the romantically-inclined among us in mind, particularly those who have an appreciation and/or talent for music. The sneak preview that I attended received applause as the tail credits began to roll. The fellow taking comments from the audience reported to me afterwards that, not only were the remarks overwhelmingly positive, two separate people had claimed that this was the best movie they’d ever seen.
