Movie Review: AUGUST RUSH

First, a moment of pause. This is Mod-Blog's 5,000 post.

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AUGUST RUSH is an inspiring movie staring Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard, and Robin Williams. Evan Taylor (Highmore) is given to an orphanage where he grows up not knowing his mother or father. He can hear music in the world around him and believes that through the music of the world, he will be able to connect with his parents. The film runs with this theme with an amazing soundtrack. The soundtrack is not such that you should run out an buy it, but rather that it is so closely woven into the film, it is almost a character itself.

Lyla Novacek (Russell) and Louis Connelly (Meyers) have a random meeting with the end result being Evan Taylor. Lyla's father, wanting to protect his family's reputation, breaks them up and tricks Lyla into thinking that Evan is dead when in reality, he has sent Evan to an orphanage to be forgotten. Terrence Howard plays Richard Jeffries, a social worker trying to make a difference, especially with Evan. Evan loses the contact information of a person he is supposed to call and instead finds himself wandering around New York City. While he is walking around, he finds a boy playing a guitar on the street who introduces him to "Wizard" (Williams), a used-to-be beggar who now has made an enterprise of finding street kids, teaching them to play, and then making money off of them. When "Wizard" sees Evan's talent, he tries to groom Evan as one of his own, putting obstacles in his way of reconnecting with his parents. The story continues building, blending the separate story lines into one story using music as a catalyst along the way. While the film would be a decent feel-good movie without the music, the music is what makes this movie worth seeing. If you haven't seen August Rush yet, you should.

August Rush is rated PG for some thematic elements, mild violence, and language. It is 113 minutes long. The Kids-in-Mind review can be found here