August Rush

Music leads one to interesting destinations. Following the trail of the song This Time by Chris Trapper, I ended up watching August Rush. This is a modern musical fairytale spun around the life of a musical prodigy. Two musical teenagers, Lyla (Keri Russel) and Louis (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) fall in love and spend a night together before they are separated by Lyla’s dad. Lyla bears their son (Freddie Highmore), but her dad secretly gives away the baby for adoption. Growing up in a foster home, this kid is musically gifted and hears music all around him. Convinced that he is not an orphan, he runs away to New York City to find his parents. If that was not enough of a Dickensian setting, in the city he falls into the clutches of Wizard (Robin Williams). This Fagin-like musician trains him to perform guitar at street corners under the name August Rush and takes a cut of his earnings. Much like a Bollywood movie, music will unite August with his long lost parents in the end.

There is nothing much to write home about in the story, acting or music (surprised?) here. This could very well have been an average Hindi movie with Amitabh Bachchan starring as the Wizard! 😁 What saves the movie is its beautiful cinematography that tries to show how music pervades our lives everyday in the city. No need to hurry to watch August Rush, it can probably be enjoyed one time when you get a chance.