August Rush (2007)

Director:

Kirsten Sheridan

Writers (WGA):

Nick Castle (screenplay) and
James V. Hart (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 November 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Romance

Tagline:

An incredible journey moving at the speed of sound

Plot:

A drama with fairy tale elements, where an orphaned musical prodigy uses his gift as a clue to finding his birth parents.

Plot Keywords:

New York | Prodigy | School | Juilliard | Love

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Freddie Highmore	...	Evan Taylor - 'August Rush'
Keri Russell	...	Lyla Novacek
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	Louis Connelly
Terrence Howard	...	Richard Jeffries
Robin Williams	...	Maxwell 'Wizard' Wallace
William Sadler	...	Thomas Novacek
Marian Seldes	...	The Dean
Mykelti Williamson	...	Reverend James
Leon Thomas III	...	Arthur
Aaron Staton	...	Nick
Alex O'Loughlin	...	Marshall
Jamia Simone Nash	...	Hope
Ronald Guttman	...	Professor
Bonnie McKee	...	Lizzy
Michael Drayer	...	Mannix

MPAA:

Rated PG for some thematic elements, mild violence and language.

Runtime:

114 min | Israel:100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:All | Ireland:PG | UK:PG | Germany:6 (f) | Singapore:PG | Germany:6 | South Africa:A | Argentina:Atp | Taiwan:GP | Brazil:Livre | USA:PG (certificate no. 43048) | Australia:PG | Peru:PT | Netherlands:6

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

In Brazil, the movie is titled "The Sound of the Heart".

Goofs:

Factual errors: During Louis' unsuccessful trip to Chicago to try to locate Lyla, he's briefly questioned by two police officers in a squad car outside her apartment. Chicago police cars have blue roof lights, but this one has a red light bar on top, and appears to be a New York squad car, filmed from a tight angle to obscure its actual markings.

Quotes:

Wizard: Hola music lovers! While the cat's away-
[He sees the pizza box on the ground]
Wizard: oh. who likes pizza?
[Arthur tries to sneak away]
Wizard: Arthur.
[gestures for Arthur to come here]
Wizard: What is he?
Backbeat: He's a damn fool!
Wizard: What are you Arthur?
Arthur: I'm a real piece of work, Wizard.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2007-11-24)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

King of the Earth

If you don't have a great imagination, you won't like it

If you love it, you'll LOVE it. If not, then the most you'll probably give it is an 'ok'. The movie requires the audience to have a somewhat willful suspension of reality as there are some slightly mystic themes interwoven in the storyline. But as the movie is basically centered on the power of music, the mystic elements make sense. It's completely about belief and faith in the intangible.

Personally, I loved the story. And the music was amazing. I had goosebumps throughout the entire movie. In fact, there was probably so much emphasis on the music that there was less character development than a lot of people would like. I liked this element of the movie, though, as it requires you to read between the lines. Not even the ending is handed to you nicely wrapped and on a platter. There's no wrap-up dialogue or epilogue sequence, just the audience's own inferences. Hence, if you don't have an imagination, you should stay home.