''August Rush'' is a 2007

musical drama film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

directed by Kirsten Sheridan and produced by

Richard Barton Lewis Richard Barton Lewis is an American film producer and writer. He is the founder and CEO of Southpaw Entertainment and co-founder of Trilogy Entertainment. Education Lewis is a graduate of UC Berkeley's department of Biological Anthropology, an ...

. The screenplay is by Nick Castle and James V. Hart, with a story by

Paul Castro Paul Castro (born March 12, 1975 in Bronx, New York) is an American screenwriter and educator. He's best known for the musical fantasy, ''August Rush''. Former Disney CEO/President Michael Eisner said of Castro, "What clearly resonates with me is ...

and Castle. A co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom and South Korea, it involves an 11-year-old musical prodigy living in an orphanage who runs away to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He begins to unravel the mystery of who he is, all while his mother is searching for him and his father is searching for her. The many different sounds and rhythms he hears throughout his journey culminate in a major instrumental composition, which concludes the film ("August's Rhapsody").

Plot

In 1995, Lyla Novacek is a cellist studying at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely ...

and living under the strict rule of her father. Louis Connelly is the lead singer of an Irish rock band. They meet and have a

one-night stand A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is an expectation that there shall be no further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single ...

, but are unable to maintain contact. Lyla discovers that she is pregnant. Following an argument with her overbearing father over her unborn baby, she is struck by a car, forcing her to give birth prematurely. While Lyla is unconscious, her father secretly puts the baby boy up for adoption, telling Lyla that her son died. Eleven years later, the baby is living in a boys'

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or a ...

under the name Evan Taylor, where he is assigned to a

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

named Richard Jeffries. Evan is a musical genius and displays

savant Savant syndrome () is a rare condition in which someone with significant mental disabilities demonstrates certain abilities far in excess of average. The skills that savants excel at are generally related to memory. This may include rapid calc ...

-like abilities and perfect pitch, which often causes him to be bullied. Convinced that his parents will find him, Evan runs away to New York City, "following the music" in the hope it will lead him to his family. He finds a boy named Arthur

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. One of the best known of New York City's public parks, it is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. ...

and follows Arthur to his home in a condemned theatre, where Evan is introduced to “Wizard” Wallace, an arrogant and aggressive vagrant and musician who teaches homeless, orphaned, and runaway children to be

street performer Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

s. Evan tries playing Wizard's prize guitar, Roxanne (a Gibson J150ec). Evan is so good that Wizard gives him his old spot in Washington Square Park, along with the guitar, which was also Arthur's. He gives Evan the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

"August Rush" and tries to market him to clubs. Seeing the posters that Jeffries has placed for the runaway Evan, Wizard destroys all the ones he finds, hoping to keep Evan for his own gain. Louis now lives in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

as a talent agent, while Lyla is a music teacher in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Louis reconnects with his brothers and decides to try to find Lyla. Lyla is called to her father's deathbed, where he confesses that her son is alive, causing Lyla to abandon her dying father and immediately start looking for her son. On arriving at Lyla's apartment in Chicago, Louis talks to one of her neighbors, who mistakenly tells Louis she is on her honeymoon. Despairing, he ends up in New York, where he gets his band back together. After Jeffries meets Wizard and Arthur on the street and becomes suspicious, the police raid the derelict theatre in which Wizard and his "children" are living. Evan manages to evade the police and remembers Wizard's advice to never reveal his real name to anyone. Evan (now "August") takes refuge in a church, where he befriends a little girl named Hope, who introduces him to the piano and written music. Hope brings August and his abilities to the attention of the parish pastor, who takes August to Juilliard, where he once again impresses the faculty. A rhapsody takes shape from August's notes and homework. In New York, Lyla goes to Jeffries' office, and Jeffries identifies Evan/August as her son. While looking for him, she takes up the cello again and accepts an offer to perform with the Philharmonic at a series of concerts in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

. August is selected to perform the rhapsody he has been composing at the same concert. However, Wizard interrupts the rehearsal and, claiming to be his father, manages to pull August out of the school. On the day of the concert, August is back in his spot in Washington Square, while Wizard makes plans to smuggle him around the country to play. He meets Louis, and unaware of their blood relationship, they have an impromptu guitar duet. August tells him of his dilemma, and Louis encourages him to go. That evening, with help from Arthur, August escapes from Wizard through the

subway Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to: Transportation * Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems * Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle * Subway (George Bush Intercontin ...

and heads for his concert. Louis, after his own performance with his reunited band, sees Lyla's name on one of the banners and also heads for the park. Jeffries finds a misplaced flyer for "August Rush" with a picture, and also heads for the concert. August arrives in time to conduct his rhapsody, which attracts both Lyla and Louis to the audience, where they are reunited. August finishes his rhapsody and as he turns to discover his parents, he smiles knowing that he has been right all along.

Cast

* Freddie Highmore as Evan Taylor / "August Rush" *

Keri Russell Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976) is an American actress. She portrayed the titular character on the drama series '' Felicity'' (1998–2002), which won her a Golden Globe Award, and Elizabeth Jennings on the FX spy thriller series ''The ...

as Lyla Novacek, Evan's mother *

Jonathan Rhys Meyers Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe; 27 July 1977) is an Irish actor, model and musician. He is known for his roles in the films ''Michael Collins'' (1996), '' Velvet Goldmine'' (1998), ''Titus'' (1999), '' Bend It Like ...

as Louis Connelly, Evan's father *

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

as Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace *

Terrence Howard Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor. Having his first major roles in the 1995 films ''Dead Presidents'' and '' Mr. Holland's Opus'', Howard broke into the mainstream with a succession of television and cinema roles ...

as Counselor Richard Jeffries *

Alex O'Loughlin Alex O'Loughlin (born 24 August 1976) is an Australian actor, writer, director, and producer, who played Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett on CBS' remake of the TV series '' Hawaii Five-0'' (2010–2020). He had starring roles in the films ...

as Marshall Connelly, Louis' older brother and Evan's paternal uncle * William Sadler as Thomas Novacek, Lyla's father and Evan's maternal grandfather *

Marian Seldes Marian Hall Seldes (August 23, 1928 – October 6, 2014) was an American actress. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for '' A Delicate Balance'' in 1967, and received subsequent nomination ...

as Dean Alice MacNeil *

Jamia Simone Nash Jamia Simone Nash (born August 21, 1996) in Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S., also known simply as Jamia, is an American singer and actress. Career Nash's first national appearance was in ''Love & Basketball'' in 2000 in which she played Quincy an ...

as Hope * Mykelti Williamson as Reverend James * Leon Thomas III as Arthur * Bonnie McKee as Lizzy * Timothy Mitchum as Joey *

Becki Newton Rebecca Sara Newton is an American actress, known for her roles as Amanda Tanen on ''Ugly Betty'' and Quinn Garvey on ''How I Met Your Mother''. Early life Newton was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the daughter of Thomas Newton and Jennifer Ne ...

as Jennifer *

Aaron Staton Aaron Staton (born August 10, 1980) is an American actor. He played Ken Cosgrove on the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015) and voiced Cole Phelps in the video game ''L.A. Noire'' (2011), for which he was nominated for a BAFTA for Best ...

as Nick * Ronald Guttman as The Professor *

Michael Drayer Michael Drayer (born March 19, 1986) is an American actor. He is best known for his recurring role as Cisco on the television drama–thriller series ''Mr. Robot'', Gabe on the television drama series ''Deception'', and for his supporting role as ...

as Mannix * Tablo as Clarinet player (uncredited cameo) * Koo Hye-sun as Girl on couch (cameo)

Music

Moondance ''Moondance'' is the third studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 27 January 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. After the commercial failure of his first Warner Bros. album ''Astral Weeks'' (1968), Morris ...

"
Written by

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

, Performed by

*"This Time"
Written by Chris Trapper, Performed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers *"Bari Improv"
Written by Mark Mancina and Kaki King, Performed by Kaki King *"Ritual Dance"
Written by

Michael Hedges Michael Alden Hedges (December 31, 1953 – December 2, 1997) was an American acoustic guitarist and songwriter. Early years The son of Thayne Alden Hedges and Ruth Evelyn Hedges Ipsen, Michael Hedges was born in Sacramento, California. His l ...

, Performed by Kaki King *"

Raise It Up Raise may refer to: Music *'' Raise!'', the name of a 1981 album by Earth, Wind, and Fire * '' Raise'' (album), the name of a 1991 album by Swervedriver Place names * Raise, Cumbria, England *Raise (Lake District), the name of the 12th highe ...

"
Written by Impact Repertory Theatre, Performed by

and Impact Repertory Theatre
Nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed ...

*"Dueling Guitars"
Written by Heitor Pereira, Performed by Heitor Pereira and Doug Smith *"Someday"
Written by J. Stephens, Performed by

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...

*"King of the Earth"
Written and Performed by John Ondrasik *"God Bless the Child"
Written by Arthur Herzog, Jr. and Billie Holiday, Performed by

Chris Botti Christopher Stephen Botti ( ; born October 12, 1962) is an award-winning American trumpeter and composer. In 2013, Botti won the Grammy Award in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category, for the album ''Impressions''. He was also nominated in ...

and Paula Cole *"La Bamba"
Performed by Leon Thomas III *"August's Rhapsody"
Written by Mark Mancina The final number with Lyla and Louis begins with Lyla playing the Adagio-Moderato from Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor. Except for "Dueling Guitars", all of August's guitar pieces were played by American guitarist-composer Kaki King. King's hands are used in close-ups for August Rush. Composer Mark Mancina spent over a year and a half composing the score of ''August Rush''. "The heart of the story is how we respond and connect through music. It's about this young boy who believes that he's going to find his parents through his music. That's what drives him." The final theme of the movie was composed first. "That way I could take bits and pieces of the ending piece and relate it to the things that are happening in (August's) life. All of the themes are pieces of the puzzle, so at the end it means something because you've been subliminally hearing it throughout the film." The score was recorded at the Todd-AO Scoring Stage and the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Bros.

Reception

''August Rush'' received mixed reviews from film critics. , the film holds a 37% approval rating on the review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, based on 123 reviews with an average rating of 4.83/10. The site's consensus reads: "Though featuring a talented cast, ''August Rush'' cannot overcome the flimsy direction and schmaltzy plot." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film had an average score of 38 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". In a review by ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', Claudia Puig commented, "''August Rush'' will not be for everyone, but it works if you surrender to its lilting and unabashedly sentimental tale of evocative music and visual poetry." ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' reviewed the film positively, writing "the story is about musicians and how music connects people, so the movie's score and songs, created by composers Mark Mancina and Hans Zimmer, give poetic whimsy to an implausible tale." Pam Grady of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...

'' called the film "an inane musical melodrama." Grady said "the entire story is ridiculous" and "Coincidences pile on, behavior and motivations defy logic, and the characters are so thinly drawn that most of the cast is at a loss." Edward Douglas of comingsoon.net said it "does not take long for the movie to reveal itself as an extremely contrived and predictable movie that tries too hard to tug on the heartstrings."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the movie three stars, calling it "a movie drenched in sentimentality, but it's supposed to be. The movie also came to a very sudden end, leaving it unfinished." A few critics suggested that the film is essentially a musical adaptation of Dickens' ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...

''.

Awards

Despite the mixed reception, ''August Rush'' was praised for its music. The song "Raise It Up" was nominated for Best Original Song at the

80th Academy Awards The 80th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2007. The award ceremony took place on February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During t ...

, but lost to ''

Once Once means a one-time occurrence. Once may refer to: Music * ''Once'' (Pearl Jam song), a 1991 song from the album ''Ten'' * ''Once'' (Roy Harper album), a 1990 album by Roy Harper * ''Once'' (The Tyde album), a 2001 debut album by The Tyd ...

''.

Stage adaptation

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

adaptation of ''August Rush'' premiered on May 3, 2019, at the Paramount Theatre in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located primarily in DuPage and Kane counties, it is the second most populous city in Illinois, a ...

. The book was written by

Glen Berger Glen Berger is an American playwright and scriptwriter. He has received commissions from the Children’s Theater of Minneapolis, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Alley Theatre, and the Lookingglass Theater. In 2010, he co-wrote the book for '' Spi ...

, the music was composed by Mark Mancina, and the lyrics were written by both Berger and Mancina. The play was directed by John Doyle.

References

External links

* * * * *{{Amg movie, id=319428, title=August Rush
Scoring Session Photo Gallery at ScoringSessions.com
2007 films 2000s musical drama films English-language South Korean films American musical drama films British musical drama films South Korean musical drama films Films about cellos and cellists Films about music and musicians Films shot in New York City Films shot in New Jersey Films set in New York City Films set in Chicago Films set in San Francisco Films set in 1995 Films set in 2006 Films scored by Mark Mancina Warner Bros. films CJ Entertainment films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s South Korean films 2000s British films