"August Rush"
Picture this, you hear music in the rustling of wind against fields of wheat, misunderstood by everyone around you and dismissed as a freak. “August Rush” is such a sappy tale of an orphan boy named Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’) who hears music all around him and senses his parents whom he never met or had any contact. Evan firmly believes his parents are out there looking for him and he hopes to be ‘found’ one day. When New York child service department counselor, Richard Jeffries (Terrence Howard) advises him to think about living in a foster home, Evan declines and replied that he has been waiting and counting the days - 11 years and 16 days for his parents. Impressed by his unwavering decision, Richard gave Evan his name card with a promise that he can call him whenever he wants to talk. Through a series of flashbacks, we were introduced to a cellist named Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) and Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) lead singer/ guitarist of an Irish band called ‘The Connelly Brothers’. They met on the rooftop one fateful night and fell in love instantly but were separated without knowledge of each other’s whereabouts. Since then, Lyla and Louis both had trouble concentrating on playing music and stop performing all together. Unknown to Louis, Lyla is carrying his child in spite of her father’s (William Sadler) disapproval. When Lyla was involved in a car accident, her domineering father saw the chance to give up the baby for adoption whom he sees as an obstacle in their lives.
One night, Evan follows an unusual sound that seem to call out to him and left the orphanage to follow it. He is picked up by a trucker and taken to New York when the latter calls Richard’s number on the card. Evan is told to stay and wait but after the wind blows the card into a sewer vent, he wanders around the city in a whimsical fantasy of sounds before he is attracted to guitar sounds played by a boy named Arthur (Leon G. Thomas III). Soon, he follows Arthur back to an abandoned theatre where he meets a group of kids, all street musicians taken under the wings of "Wizard" (Robin Williams) a former busker turned hustler who lets the children stay, in return for a cut of the money they made. When Evan begins to play music for the first time using Arthur’s guitar, Wizard puts him to ‘work’ on his former spot in central park. In no time, Evan started to wow the crowds with his unique brand of music and bring in the big bucks for Wizard. To hide Evan’s real identity from the authorities, Wizard gives him the stage name of ‘August Rush’, taken off a slogan on a truck driving by about the August rush to the beach.
On his deathbed, Lyla’s father confessed that her son had survived the car accident. Lyla rushes to New York City in a frantic search of her son and meets Richard. Meanwhile, Evan's father Louis has also begun to trace Lyla and ended up back where they had originally met. Still hot on Evan’s trail, Richard becomes suspicious of Wizard and has the police follow him to the condemned theatre where the kids live. Having escaped the police raid, Evan hears a choir singing in a church and meets a little girl named Hope (Jamia Simone Nash) who teaches him how to read and write music. To the surprise of Reverend James (Mykelti Williamson) and Hope, Evan manages to compose a musical piece and play the pipe organ with consummate skill in no time at all. Seeing the musical genius in Evan, Reverend James enrolled the child prodigy in Julliard School where he impresses everyone by writing a magnificent piece called "August's Rhapsody" which is going to be performed in New York City's Central Park with the New York Philharmonic.
Out of nowhere, Wizard shows up in Julliard after learning about Evan's performance through the concert posters and forces him to leave by implying that he will tell everyone Evan's real name. Reluctantly, Evan goes along with his so-called ‘Father’. While busking, Evan meets a fellow guitarist unknown to both of them, is actually his Father Louis. Under the alias of August Rush, Evan says that he has a big concert coming up but he cannot go. Louis tells him that he would not miss it for anything in the World. On the day of the concert, Evan is in the subway station with Wizard and Arthur when he tells them of his intentions to leave for good. After escaping Wizard’s attempt to stop him from leaving, Evan arrives just in time and begins to conduct his music at the same time Lyla is leaving the concert. Attracted by the music, Lyla stops and turns around to approach the stage. At the same time, Louis and his band are inside a car near the park, stuck in slow moving traffic. He sees a poster hanging off a lamp post announcing the performance by August Rush in central park, like the boy told him but most importantly, Lyla’s name is on it as well. Ecstatic by the discovery, Louis runs out of the car towards the music. Approaching the stage, he recognizes the conductor as the boy he met in the park. There, he finds Lyla right in front of him listening to the music which brought him to her. Louis stands right next to her and quietly holds her hand. Mesmerized by the music, a surprised Lyla looks to her side and is thrilled to see Louis. Sensing the presence of his parents, Evan turns to the crowd and the trio recognized each other through their bond for music. I think Evan said it best at the end of the movie when he delivered a sweet monologue, "The music is all around us. All you have to do is listen."
The soundtrack contains gems like "Moondance" and "This Time" performed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, while "Raise it up" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Click on this link http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBKE09F3dfc to watch the performance by IMPACT Repertory Theatre of Harlem featuring Jamia Simone Nash (Hope) at the 80th Annual Academy Awards®. Composer Mark Mancina spent over a year and a half composing the score of August Rush, starting with the final theme of the movie. The heart and soul of the story is about this young boy who believes that he is going to find his parents through his music. My ratings are 3.5 out of 5 stars for those who believe in hope.
One night, Evan follows an unusual sound that seem to call out to him and left the orphanage to follow it. He is picked up by a trucker and taken to New York when the latter calls Richard’s number on the card. Evan is told to stay and wait but after the wind blows the card into a sewer vent, he wanders around the city in a whimsical fantasy of sounds before he is attracted to guitar sounds played by a boy named Arthur (Leon G. Thomas III). Soon, he follows Arthur back to an abandoned theatre where he meets a group of kids, all street musicians taken under the wings of "Wizard" (Robin Williams) a former busker turned hustler who lets the children stay, in return for a cut of the money they made. When Evan begins to play music for the first time using Arthur’s guitar, Wizard puts him to ‘work’ on his former spot in central park. In no time, Evan started to wow the crowds with his unique brand of music and bring in the big bucks for Wizard. To hide Evan’s real identity from the authorities, Wizard gives him the stage name of ‘August Rush’, taken off a slogan on a truck driving by about the August rush to the beach.On his deathbed, Lyla’s father confessed that her son had survived the car accident. Lyla rushes to New York City in a frantic search of her son and meets Richard. Meanwhile, Evan's father Louis has also begun to trace Lyla and ended up back where they had originally met. Still hot on Evan’s trail, Richard becomes suspicious of Wizard and has the police follow him to the condemned theatre where the kids live. Having escaped the police raid, Evan hears a choir singing in a church and meets a little girl named Hope (Jamia Simone Nash) who teaches him how to read and write music. To the surprise of Reverend James (Mykelti Williamson) and Hope, Evan manages to compose a musical piece and play the pipe organ with consummate skill in no time at all. Seeing the musical genius in Evan, Reverend James enrolled the child prodigy in Julliard School where he impresses everyone by writing a magnificent piece called "August's Rhapsody" which is going to be performed in New York City's Central Park with the New York Philharmonic.Out of nowhere, Wizard shows up in Julliard after learning about Evan's performance through the concert posters and forces him to leave by implying that he will tell everyone Evan's real name. Reluctantly, Evan goes along with his so-called ‘Father’. While busking, Evan meets a fellow guitarist unknown to both of them, is actually his Father Louis. Under the alias of August Rush, Evan says that he has a big concert coming up but he cannot go. Louis tells him that he would not miss it for anything in the World. On the day of the concert, Evan is in the subway station with Wizard and Arthur when he tells them of his intentions to leave for good. After escaping Wizard’s attempt to stop him from leaving, Evan arrives just in time and begins to conduct his music at the same time Lyla is leaving the concert. Attracted by the music, Lyla stops and turns around to approach the stage. At the same time, Louis and his band are inside a car near the park, stuck in slow moving traffic. He sees a poster hanging off a lamp post announcing the performance by August Rush in central park, like the boy told him but most importantly, Lyla’s name is on it as well. Ecstatic by the discovery, Louis runs out of the car towards the music. Approaching the stage, he recognizes the conductor as the boy he met in the park. There, he finds Lyla right in front of him listening to the music which brought him to her. Louis stands right next to her and quietly holds her hand. Mesmerized by the music, a surprised Lyla looks to her side and is thrilled to see Louis. Sensing the presence of his parents, Evan turns to the crowd and the trio recognized each other through their bond for music. I think Evan said it best at the end of the movie when he delivered a sweet monologue, "The music is all around us. All you have to do is listen."The soundtrack contains gems like "Moondance" and "This Time" performed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, while "Raise it up" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Click on this link http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBKE09F3dfc to watch the performance by IMPACT Repertory Theatre of Harlem featuring Jamia Simone Nash (Hope) at the 80th Annual Academy Awards®. Composer Mark Mancina spent over a year and a half composing the score of August Rush, starting with the final theme of the movie. The heart and soul of the story is about this young boy who believes that he is going to find his parents through his music. My ratings are 3.5 out of 5 stars for those who believe in hope. 
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