Music to my ears...and eyes

Rating: 8/10 (29 November 2007)

Okay, I'll grant that August Rush is derivative--the plot resembles Oliver Twist (the Dickens characters Fagin and the Artful Dodger are easy to pick out), and its tear-jerking finish is entirely predictable. Perhaps because it wasn't marketed as fantasy, some critics went in expecting to see a drama about an orphan genius in search of his parents. What they got was a long chain of fairy tale coincidences that makes Enchanted seem logical. No, it's not perfect. Keri Russel--the wonderful star of 'Waitress'--is beautiful as the boy's mother, but a little too compliant to her domineering father. Freddie Highmore is almost too cute (but still you have to love him). Jonathan Rhys Meyers is a good singer, but not great. But who cares? The whole point of August Rush is to celebrate imagination and communicate to the audience a passionate love of music. I can only pity those who don't love this movie. Sadly, they just can't hear the music.