A good, modern fairy tale

Rating: 7/10 (21 August 2008)

There have been strong reactions to this movie, both positive and negative. A lot of criticisms stem from the unbelievable nature of several plot points, which I find strange seeing as this movie has very little to do with reality. To cut to the chase, opinions that this movie is "worthless" or "crap" should be safely discarded as rubbish immediately. This is actually a solid film, even if it has flaws. There is, however, a certain public that will be turned off by the fantasy aspects and Disney-like elements found here.
The story follows a young boy raised in institutions and desperately wanting to meet his parents, which he knows nothing about. He is driven by his gift and passion for sounds and music. Parallel stories featuring his parents are also told and intersected in this movie. The direction here by Kirsten Sheridan is solid if we except the beginning of the movie, where the quick exposition to the characters and situation is absolutely awful and 80-ish in its rendition. In fact, Sheridan's main weakness seems to be in how to intersect the various bits and characters of the plot. But everything else is appropriate and on target.
The cast is solid, starting with teenager Freddie Highmore. While Highmore doesn't turn a Dakota Fanning or Haley Joel Osment performance, he is endearing and most of the time, totally believable as our main character. Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Keri Russell are great and their scenes together showcase very effective chemistry, which was definitely required. Terrence Howard continues to slowly rise in Hollywood as an actor who should be taken seriously. Finally, Robin Williams has a turn as a stereotypical "fairy tale baddie" that may seem over the top but is right on target for this genre.
But the biggest star of this film is probably music. To make this movie work and rise above countless feel-good movies, great, inspired music was required and fortunately, we get it in spades here. From rock to classical to soundtrack ambiances, everything here is well-meshed together, if a little artificial. Lovers of music will be more than satisfied, while actual musicians may be a wee bit disappointed by the treatment. It's still way, way above average. It's very, very good as a matter of fact.
I tremendously enjoyed August Rush, even with its small flaws. And I do believe those who couldn't get past those flaws are either missing the point, or simply do not enjoy this genre to begin with. Family-friendly entertainment has been a neglected genre, plagued with very poor entries that are totally uninspiring if we except a few movies. Lately, it seems we're seeing improvement and some thoughts put into the art of crafting good movies of this type. August Rush certainly exemplifies this and I recommend it strongly.