Der Klang des Herzens

This is a fantastic movie. Well done. During our screening at a particularly tough part for the title character, I heard people in the theater say "No, no..." The level of "buy in" and suspension of disbelief is high.

Even the dissonance of Wizard and Lila's father was handled superbly. Robin Williams hit just the right note in his portrayal of Wizard. The actors playing Agust Rush/Evan Taylor and his mother and father were amazingly well cast.

This is truly a symphony of a film. You'll enjoy it, your children will enjoy it, and you will walk out of the theater knowing that, for once, your ticket money was well spent.

Firstly, being a fan of Jonathan Rhys Meyers I had been hearing about this project for a while and I couldn't figure out how they'd make sense out of it. It does end up making sense even if it's a little far-fetched. It's about a son and his parents who all have to find each other, but my problem was that I couldn't figure out a way they could have gotten so separated in the first place. But luckily the writers did. It's pretty sappy and sentimental but if you're not that kind of person, I can't imagine you'd be interested in something like this anyway. It's the type of story that always comes out around this time of year, which is also the most sentimental time of the year. It gives you warm fuzzies so if you like something like 'Mr. Holland's Opus' or 'About a Boy' or 'Love Actually' you'd more than likely enjoy it.

I don't know if this qualifies as a musical but it should. It had lots of music in it although people didn't burst into fits of singing dialogue. The songs were normal songs, mostly original, and they were great. The young people involved were very talented, especially Jamia Simone Nash and Leon G. Thomas. Robin Willams and Terrence Howard had smaller supporting roles. (I've been saying that Williams and Bono resemble each other for 20 years so I'm glad he put the hat on and finally proved me right.) JRM and Keri Russell are co-stars who do their jobs well. But the star of the movie is Freddie Highmore. He's a good actor and I believe this was the first thing I've seen him in. I wouldn't be surprised to see him nominated for this.

I actually think this movie would be good for kids. I think there is maybe one bad word in it and maybe the way he came into the world might bother the extreme conservatives. But it's uplifting and a story about belief, especially belief in yourself. And I expect that'd be good for anyone to see, except maybe those who really hate too much sentimentality.

I saw a sneak preview tonight, not knowing anything about this film. If you still have an inner child, and an imagination that has not been beaten out of you by the "practical and mature" world, then you will love this movie. I wish I had taken my daughter. The only people that I have seen complain about this movie are people that probably consider playing music "hard work and self-sacrifice". If you don't play the cello, you are not going to notice how bad she fakes it. During certain scenes, I found myself sitting way back in my recliner, with my eyes closed, soaking up the sounds that inspired this young man. Not since "Strictly Ballroom" have I been so moved by a film.

"August Rush" is the most magical story I've seen in years. It also has some of the biggest plot holes I've seen in years. But in the end I have to say the magic triumphs, and if you watch this movie you'll probably enjoy it IF you are aware of a few things up front.

First, this must be treated as a fairytale. That is, just as we accept that a big bad wolf can talk and a family of bears can cook porridge, we must make some large allowances for this film if we are to accept it.

I won't go into too much detail what these errors/allowances are (other IMDb members have already compiled quite a list in the goofs section), but if you are a musician, particularly a classically trained one, you'll need some serious suspension of disbelief. The story is predicated on the idea that a young boy is a musical prodigy. That's fine, but this kid is downright supernatural. If you can accept that he can see a guitar for the first time and immediately rock out like Stanley Jordan, then you're OK. If you can accept the notion that he leafs through a 1st grade music book for 10 seconds and immediately knows advanced musical theory (the equivalent of leafing through a basic arithmetic book and suddenly knowing calculus), then you're halfway there. And if you can accept that he has the power to change into a tuxedo faster than Clark Kent can put on his blue tights, then you're gold.

OK, enough cynicism. If you can get past all of that, then "August Rush" is really a wonderful and original story that will charm your pants off. Very loosely based on Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist", it's the story of an orphan in search of his parents. But this story revolves around the intangible power of music to draw people together. I've never heard of any story that makes such a powerful & moving metaphor for the power of music, and like I said up front, this powerful metaphor was enough for me to lose myself in the fantasy of it all. I probably would've fallen into it more readily if someone had told me to expect a fantasy. But instead I was halfway expecting realism, making much of the movie hard to swallow. Well now you've been warned, so go into it expecting a dreamlike fairytale and just let yourself be swept away by the magic.

A word of admiration for the late, great Robin Williams who plays a very complicated role here: a man who is basically a good guy but prone to inexcusable bouts of selfishness and violence. Not a particularly charming character but a memorable one, played with great skill.

I never comment on movies here, usually I just use this website to get an idea of what I am about to watch but I saw this movie last night and loved it.

This movie is a fairytale set in real life circumstances. I really like that the film was never advertised as an Oliver Twist take, but I loved all of the allusions to it. It was a very creative take on the classic story. The poor orphan boy who wants nothing more than to be loved.

My favorite aspect of the movie was how infused music actually was in the movie. I am a musician and I liked the touches that the filmmakers went into to make the film seem as credible as a fairytale can be. I also like how it brought together modern rock, classic symphonic music, and modern symphonic music. It didn't really glamorize the life's of everyday musicians. I like all of the extra little things that were thrown into the movie that only a musician would get. There were some errors but for the most part I applaud the film makers for the attention to the musical details.

Yes the movie was a bit bit corny, and a little over the top, but for the most part I loved it and suggested it to every one.