Finally. Something at least semi-original out of "Hollywood".

Rating: 10/10 (1 November 2007)

My wife is in exhibition management (I'd say theater management, but that leads way too many half-wits to ask her for help getting an acting job...). As she is a turn-around specialist, she puts in many hours at work, and often I'm forced to tolerate some piece of digestive end product being passed off as creative entertainment by what are laughingly called the finest studios in the world in order to spend time with her.
When she gave me a choice of special showings I chose August Rush because it seemed the first really original story line I'd seen in nearly 10 years. The movie did not disappoint. It was uplifting, exhilarating and moving.
The music was fantastic, and eclectic enough to suit a wide range of tastes. If the ending was happy and the plot was simplified to return to a reasonable feature length, it was well worth the hokey assumption that a musical prodigy can learn to write music correctly with no training.
While I myself struggle with the bagpipe chanter, my mother and her siblings were musically talented and well known for their ability to play a tune note perfectly after hearing it once. While they eventually learned to read and write music, they composed long before they ever did so. This story is not so unlikely.
This move was well casted. Robin Williams played a role which was different, and showed he can really connect with people in a rather surprising way. I liked the way the movie brought together elements which crossed ethnic and socioeconomic lines.
I will be back to see this film again, and pay cash to do so. I haven't heard original music this good in a movie since Coyote Ugly and Titanic. The plot was fast paced, original, splendidly timed and left no loose ends. A must see picture.