|
| August Rush | 
 enlarge | Director: Kirsten Sheridan
Actors: Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard, Robin Williams
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $6.87
You Save: $13.11 (66%)
New (51) Used (26) Collectible (1) from $6.87
Avg. Customer Rating:  224 reviews
Sales Rank: 163
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 113
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 76368
UPC: 012569763685
EAN: 0012569763685
ASIN: B00133KFGW
Theatrical Release Date: November 21, 2007
Release Date: March 11, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: IT COMES WITH ITS CASE AND ARTWORK. PLAYS GREAT, U.S. DVD RELEASE, IMMEDIATE, FIRST CLASS SHIPPING. BUY FROM ME, AN EXPERIENCED AND RELIABLE SELLER, WITH THE HIGHEST POSITIVE FEEDBACK ON AMAZON
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Music has long been considered a universal language with the power to bring people together, but can the simple act of playing music possibly unite a child with a mother and father who live in two different cities and don't even know of the child's existence? Having shared one extraordinary night, classical cellist Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) and Irish singer and songwriter Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) were a union meant to be that was torn apart by circumstances and a protective father (William Sadler). After eleven years, both Lyla and Louis have given up performing only to find that they are unhappy and searching for a sense of fulfillment that will ultimately lead both artists back to music and performing. Evan (Freddie Highmore) is an 11-year old orphan who's grown up hearing music in everything around him and is convinced that his real parents want him and will find him with the help of music. Driven by his innate musical genius and a powerful compulsion to perform before the world, Evan runs away from the orphanage and is initially taken in by a street man known as Wizard (Robin Williams) who encourages his musical talent and renames him August Rush and, later, by a local priest who arranges for August to receive a Julliard education. August is a child prodigy who excels beyond even the wildest expectations and earns the opportunity of a lifetime--a chance to perform in front of an enormous audience in New York's Central Park. The question is; can his performance possibly reach the audience August really craves? While elements of this film are completely unbelievable (take August's instant prowess on the guitar or his immediate and sophisticated grasp of musical notation and musical theory), the message of the universality of music and the notion that "the music is all around us, all you have to do is listen" is both compelling and powerful. --Tami Horiuchi
Product Description
There?s music in the wind and sky. Can you hear it? And there?s hope. Can you feel it? The boy called August Rush can. The music mysteriously draws him penniless and alone to New York City in a quest to find ? somehow someway ? the parents separated from him years earlier. And along the way he may also find the musical genius hidden within him. Experience the magic of this rhapsodic epic of the heart starring Freddie Highmore (as August) Keri Russell Jonathan Rhys Meyers Terrence Howard and Robin Williams. ?I believe in music the way some people believe in fairy tales? August says. Open your heart and listen. You?ll believe too.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/CHILDHOOD DRAMA UPC: 012569763685 Manufacturer No: 76368
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 219 more reviews...
 Music and the Harmony of the Universe: A Film for Dreamers March 20, 2008
199 out of 228 found this review helpful
AUGUST RUSH will not go down in history as a profound film: many will even go so far as to dismiss it as kitsch, maudlin, and a simpleton take off on 'Oliver Twist', and other pejoratives. For this viewer the little film is tender and frequently requires suspension of belief, but in the end the idea of the story does indeed bring a tear to the eye.
Based on a story by Paul Castro and Nick Castle and transformed for the screen by Castle and James V. Hart, the premise is that of a fairytale, but an unusual fairytale built around the impact of music. On one magic night in New York City classical cellist Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) and popular Irish guitarist/singer Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) meet on a rooftop, languishing in their own disappointments with life and finding solace in each other's arms, and that night Lyla becomes pregnant, never to see Louis again, and struggling to keep her baby despite her father's demands to abort. Lyla delivers her baby boy, but the child is immediately taken away (Lyla is told the child was stillborn). 'Evan Taylor' AKA August Rush (Freddie Highmore) is placed in an orphanage, longing for parents he believes he can 'hear' in the music of the spheres. Compelled to find his parents he escapes the orphanage after eleven years and is taken in by Faginesque Maxwell 'Wizard' Wallace (Robin Williams) who teaches his street urchins the fine art of pick pocketing and playing music on the streets as buskers. Renamed August Rush, Evan has uncommon musical talents and rapidly becomes a big money maker for Wizard while at the same time being discovered as a potential pupil for Juilliard by Reverend James (Mykelti Williamson) and his girl singer Hope (Jamia Simone Nash) with assistance from kindly social worker Richard Jefferies (Terrence Howard). August Rush composes a rhapsody that is to be played in Central Park, a chance to place his music before the world and attract his parents, both of whom have returned to music careers after eleven years absence and learn of the existence of August Rush, their 'unknown son'. And yes, the ending is a happily ever after one...
Kirsten Sheridan directs with a sure hand and a keen eye toward make believe. The cast is strong, especially Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and the musical score, a very mixed bag, provides a suitable background for the story. This is one of those movies that asks us to go along with a lot of improbable events, but the pleasure of the experience is worth the journey. Grady Harp, March 08
 "Music is Harmonic Connection between all living beings -- The Wizard" November 25, 2007
76 out of 83 found this review helpful
Some people hear the rhythm in a step, the strident beauty of a police siren, the whip of a powerline in the wind. Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore) doesn't get a decent night's sleep in the orphanage because of it. His fellow inmates call him freak because he believes both his parents are living and they'll come for him--if only he call out with the music that connects them.
As he says, "I believe in music the way some people believe in fairy tales." So, Evan decides after eleven years and some days to escape the orphanage and go find the music--and his parents.
Even ends up in New York City with zero street smarts. He really doesn't even know how to cross the road. A fortunate encounter puts him near Arthur (Leon G. Thomas III), a street busker his age who's willing to help--for a price. Arthur introduces him to Wizard (Robin Williams) who gives musically talented street kids a place to stay in exchange for half their take. The Wizard quickly discovers that Evan, who he renames August Rush, is a prodigy and is making some plans for the lad.
Meanwhile, we learn that Even's mom Lyla Novacek (Kerri Russell) had only been with Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) one night. The Julliard educated cellist was in an accident while pregnant and her father decided to sign her name and give up her son--telling Lyla that he'd died. Instead of the stage career her father envisioned, Lyla mostly gave up music and taught--til Julliard called her for a special concert in Central Park.
Louis has always longed for Lyla, the girl who got away. He gave up his music and became a manager. When he brings a girl to meet his family, they play a song he'd written for the band after Lyla's departure from his life. He's determined to find Lyla. When he believes she is married, he ends up in New York with no particular goals in mind except to find his music again.
"August Rush" is just as much about the musical ties that bind us as the three people whose stories it tells. In my opinion, the best performances were the kids: Evan-August, Arthur and Hope (Jamia Simone Nash). This trio kept you captivated and cheering.
Of course, the soundtrack is fabulous. You have Kaki King on the guitar as well as vocals from John Legend and John Ondrasik (Five for Fighting fame). I'm ordering the soundtrack tonight and I really don't often like movie soundtracks well enough to order.
I wasn't the only person who'd give this film 5 stars. This is one of the rare films I've attended where many of the audience stood and applauded at the end. While this is a family film, I did notice that some of the younger children got restless and needed some explanation of what was going on.
The Music that Brings Us Together November 20, 2007
73 out of 76 found this review helpful
"August Rush" is a fairy tale. It doesn't have princes, princesses, evil stepmothers, witches, or big bad wolves, but it's a fairy tale nonetheless. And as such, it tells a story that resonates so strongly with its audience that it casts a magic spell. This movie is told in the language of music, and it exemplifies the harmonic connections between people, the rhythmic bonds that can never be broken in spite of distance and time. It's also told in the language of faith, of the belief that love will indeed conquer all. No, this is not a realistic idea, but that's not the point. Isn't it nice that we have films like this to escape to when realism is bringing us down? Isn't it wonderful when we find that one film that can raise our spirits? "August Rush" was that film for me, and I recommend it to anyone in need of a rejuvenating emotional boost.
The film stars Freddie Highmore as an orphan named Evan Taylor, a quiet yet determined musical prodigy. He was born as the result of a chance encounter between two musicians: an Irish rock guitarist named Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and a classically trained American cellist named Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell). While living in New York City, they met and separated through twists of fate--Lyla's controlling father (William Sadler) doesn't take the news of her unplanned pregnancy very well, and when she's hit by a car and injured, he uses that opportunity to make her believe that her baby did not survive. In reality, the baby was delivered and put into the legal system as a parentless orphan. Lyla and Louis go their separate ways, believing that they would never see each other again.
In the present day, their eleven-year-old son Evan lives in an orphanage with a number of broken-spirited boys. They're so disillusioned that they bully him into believing as they do. They constantly tell him that no one is coming for him, that his ability to hear music in everything makes him nothing more than a freak. And they will not stand for his belief that he actually hears the music of his parents calling out to him. But Evan refuses to sink to their level of hopelessness; he runs away to New York City, where the music seems to be beckoning him towards his destiny. It's there he meets Wizard (Robin Williams), a shady musician who houses a number of musically inclined children in an abandoned theater. He, too, is beaten down by life, so much so that he uses these children for his own financial gain. When he discovers Evan's natural ability to play the guitar, he gives him the pseudonym August Rush and forces him to perform in parks and on street corners.
Lyla, meanwhile, is living in Chicago as a music teacher. Single and without any children, she seems complacent yet stable in her new life. But all that changes when (1) she's offered a change to once again play with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and (2) she learns that her baby did not die eleven years ago. With a powerful yet unexplainable determination, she travels back to New York on a quest to find her long lost son, a quest that will hopefully be added by her playing of the cello. Hoping to help find Evan is Richard Jeffries (Terrence Howard), a social worker who met the boy when he was still living at the orphanage.
And then, of course, there's Louis, who has since gone on to be a businessman in San Francisco. His band members haven't forgiven him for leaving, least of all his brother, Marshall (Alex O'Loughlin). But worst of all, Louis hasn't been able to forgive himself, and upon seeing footage of himself performing on stage, he remembers the love he felt for Lyla. The memory is so strong that's he vows to reunite with her. This journey of finding lost love leads him from Chicago back to New York City, where he's inspired to rejoin with his band and restart his singing career. Much like his son--whom he doesn't know exists--Louis is a gifted guitar player; one can hear his passion and energy with every chord, and his music operates at the same frequency as Lyla's cello playing.
As you can probably tell, most of the film thrives on serendipity, and it gets more and more prominent with every passing scene. A kind-hearted pastor eventually takes Evan in, and when made aware of his musical genius, they send him to the Julliard School of Music. He composes a piece within the first six months of his stay, one that the faculty believes is good enough to be performed. Thus sets into motion the events leading to one of the most satisfying endings of any movie I've seen this year, a scene so touching that I was in awe. As I listened to Evan's "August's Rhapsody," I felt as if I had been enveloped in the folds of hope, love, and happiness; the earthiness of the chimes blended perfectly with the smoothness of the violins and the energy of the guitars, all of which made his unwavering faith in the power of connection perfectly clear.
This is the magic of "August Rush," a film so wonderful that I cannot recommend it enough. It's a modern day fable with a timeless message, and it comes across so well that I never once stopped to consider how implausible it is. Plausibility doesn't even come into play, here. What does come into play is the emotional impact, the sense that we can get something out of it if we surrender to pure fantasy. Evan opens the film by saying, "Music is all around us--all we have to do is listen." This is one of the year's best films, and if you keep that quote in mind when seeing it, you'll be more inclined to agree.
 "Bad! Unbelievably Bad!" March 23, 2008
33 out of 72 found this review helpful
This film has been widely classified as "a fairy tale" for our times. But a fairy tale, as Bruno Bettleheim pointed out long ago, contains gritty elements of psychological realism and represents symbolically through its ogres and witches the dangers which all children confront on the road to maturity.
"August Rush," on the other hand is just an indulgent exercise in New Age Wish Fulfillment. It could more accurately be classified not as a fairy tale but, to put it mildly, as "a vast betrayal of life." Consider in this regard its opening. A rock musician scores after a first meeting with a classical cellist on the rooftop of a Greenwich Village flat. She learns after their one-night-stand that she's pregnant. Naturally, these two individuals of low responsibility, separated after their only encounter by a controlling Hollywood-type parent, continue to hunger for each over an eleven year period. Yeah, right! Similarly, the controlling parent allows his erring daughter to bear the child, but then forges her signature to give it up for adoption. Shades of pleasing everybody, "Juno" or "Murphy Brown" style. Out of wedlock liasons are given a pass, so as to be thought daring, but pregnancies are then carried to term, so as not to the offend the pro-life section of the audience. This is once again the Hollywood mentality, trying to have things both ways, beginning with the seemingly daring, but landing on a very neat, conventional trajectory.
The film, sad to say, goes from bed to worse. Children, I'm sure, would quickly see through its escalating preposterousness. Some weak-minded adults, on the other hand, interested in instant uplift, might be inclined to find it "spiritual" and "exhilarating." As Oscar Wilde said in another context, "only a man without a heart" could fail to laugh at the trials and tribulations of the characters in "August Rush."
The only bearable performance, for my money, is that of Freddie Highmore, a talented child actor. Unfortunately, however, he may be finding himself, like Haley Joel Osment earlier, pushed into bad roles that undermine his ostensible skills. "August Rush," I'd argue, is Freddie Highmore's "Pay It Forward." One hopes he or his agents exercise a better choice over scripts in the future. The worst performance in the film, not surprisingly, comes from Robin Williams, who became an act rather than an actor in "Good Will Hunting," and has yet to recover. Just like Dustin Hoffman in recent roles, he's here playing yet another caricature of a weirdo to diminishing effect. The one star is for Freddie Highmore.
 My out of sync review of the universal sounds of AUGUST RUSH January 11, 2008
21 out of 49 found this review helpful
There is a certain beat that goes on in the universe;a certain music that if one is atuned to it will bring everything just right.Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore) knows this;he feels this with every fiber of his being,and this orphan knows that the voice of his parents,both musicians (Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) both call out to him at night.He has never known them,they have never known him (in fact Russell thinks he is dead and Meyers never was informed of a pregnancy as far as I could tell)but he feels them in the talking of the wind,the watching of the moon,the moving of the wheat in the fields...etc.
I couldn't buy this earnest film for one minute.I found the story,itself, to be so full of holes, that swiss cheese had better consistency than this film.I understand the premise of this film,and it is certainly not without merit,but I will only suspend belief only so far.AUGUST RUSH seemed to be a 2007 version of "Oliver Twist" and "Annie" with a neat and sharply edited soundtrack to make up for it's totally implausible premise.As a musician,myself,who went to conservatory,I could
not buy Keri Russell performing the Elgar Cello Concerto,much less getting an invite to the prestigious Central Park Concert after an eleven year hiatus from her cello.Only the "being in sync with the universal rhythm" could have pulled that one off.Jacqueline DuPre,as talented as she was,could not have done that in her lifetime! Evan,whose name is changed to "August Rush" by a Faginesque Robin Williams,learns instantly to play the guitar like a pro and his genius is discovered and exploited when he brings his tips back to Robin Williams, who houses UNDETECTED street urchin musicians in an abandoned Manhattan Theatre.
The final and biggest hole occurs at the end when Jonathan Rhys Meyers is musically drawn to the concert in the park where Evan "August" is conducting his inspired rhapsody that just came to him.Meyers serendipitously pushes his way to the front of the enormous crowd there to find Keri Russell after eleven years,he grabs her hand,nods to August....hello? did anyone ever tell him that HE was the father of this child?
For all of the smart editing and clever ideas that this film had, the story itself is pure ridiculous.The only thing that impressed me was that Jonathan Rhys -Meyers performed his own vocals.Highmore and Russell very obviously are not really performing and the quick edits hope to dazzle the viewer and keep them off balance from that fact.Some of the cuts of Russell playing both the Bach E Major Concerto and The Edward Elgar Concerto are deplorable with incorrect hand positions and simply on the wrong strings.Some people won't notice or even care about such things, but when you study music this film is like a history major seeing Ben-Hur with a wrist watch on! The editors were savvy to cut in and out in the music sequences in order to get that dizzying effect of the swirling of music, but all the guitar and cello coaching did not remotely pay off for me.Meyers was believable because he did his own work.This threw the believability factor of this film off for me.Meyers was spot-on, while Highmore and Russell were not.Why not find three REAL musicians?
Was this film destined to end on the right note? Yeah...there was never a doubt about it.It struck all the wrong chords with me.Cheesy and hokey are words that come to mind,but,hey,it's only a film .You won't get upset with my humble opinion as long as you are flowing with the rhythm of the universe.I am obviously out of sync and freely admit it!Here come the hateful votes...I can feel you wanting to push that button!
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
