Engrossing modern-day fantasy about a boy who followed the music

Rating: 7/10 (22 July 2009)

One of the nicest features of this movie is its sound track, a harmonious blend of classical and popular (rock, jazz and gospel choral) musical styles.
The story is about a boy, Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore), raised in an orphanage without any musical opportunity, who hears music in everything. He believes that his parents, whom he never knew and doesn't know if they are even alive, will one day find him. At the orphanage the other children know of his obsession with music that only he hears and shun him as a "freak." After being bullied by older boys, he runs away in an effort to follow the music he hears, and encounters, apparently for the first time in his life, actual musical instruments and live performers.
It turns out he is a musical prodigy that can play any instrument without instruction and can read and write music after only a minute or two of instruction. In New York City's Washington Square he meets a boy about his own age playing the guitar for tips, who introduces him to an Oliver Twist collection of musical beggars working for a Fagin-like character called the Wizard (Robin Williams). When the Wizard realizes how valuable an addition to his group Evan will be, he gets him to adopt a stage name, "August Rush," in an effort to prevent people from identifying him as the boy whose picture the orphanage is circulating as a run-away.
Inter-cut with the boy's story is the story of his parents. Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell), Evan's birth mother, is a virtuoso classical musician. Evan is the result of a single passionate night with Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), an Irish rock singer-guitarist. Although they believe the other to be their soul mates, Lyla's father prevents them from seeing each other the next night and they lose all contact with each other. Lyla is pregnant from the encounter, and as a result of an accident has an emergency delivery. When she regains consciousness her father tells Lyla that the baby died in childbirth. It is not until years later when he is on his deathbed does he confesses to Lyla that he lied and that the child lived.
As the movie is a fantasy, it works out that the mother, father and son are all in New York again, with both Lyla and Evan participating in a philharmonic orchestra concert in the park.
The film is fairly fast paced; I was never bored.
In addition to the music, Keri Russell was perfect as Lyla. Jonathan Rhys Meyers was also very good.
It was not Robin Williams' best performance. In one sense Wizard is a sympathetic character whom we are led to believe also was an unappreciated musical talent with a sad childhood and who is aiding the talented kids he collects escape from bad family situations. On the other hand, he is a despicable monster exploiting the children for his own advantage. Balancing these two conflicting traits requires a sensitive performance that I don't think Mr. Williams demonstrated.