After decades of stale retellings of Oliver Twist, a unique voice has finally pierced the crowds, and what a voice it is! Although there is a wonderful cast in the film, the music is the true star of the film, along with a phenomenally talented young man named Freddie Highmore. The editor of the film and the sound department should get enormous accolades for their work in the film, and since unfortunately they are usually overlooked by the industry, I'll send up my one lone voice to give them praise for their work.
The story of August Rush is based on Oliver Twist with the addition of the love of music and the love story. Freddie plays the orphan in search of his parents with a love and a gift for music inherited from both sides.
Robin Williams gets his first really strong role in quite awhile as Wizard, the cross between fatherly Fagin and wicked old Bill Stikes. His character is dangerously endearing at the beginning deteriorating into angry and repulsively controlling at the end.
The sound editing with the two parents played by Jonathan Rhys Myers and Keri Russell is nothing short of brilliant. Every time one begins to play the other begins a song in a completely different type of music. Keri, playing her classical cello is overlaid with Jonathan playing electric guitar and singing with his wonderful Irish lilt. As odd as it sounds, it works, not just a little but wonderfully!
There is also a young lady of note in the film, by the name of Jamia Simone Nash who plays Hope. This tiny package of energy belts out her hymn with the voice of a diva. I'm sure that we'll be seeing a lot more of her as she grows up
One of the amazing things in the film is a unique style of guitar playing that I had never seen before, and surprisingly I just received a release on another talented guitarist who plays in the same fashion. If you find yourself as captivated as I did with Freddie's "fingerstyle" playing, you might want to check out 20-something Andy McGee as well on the CandyRat label, seen below playing Drifting.
For anyone who hears music in the stars, the traffic, and the everyday world around you, this is a must see film, and if you only wish you could then see August Rush and you will. I had two grown men with me at the screening of this film and all of us left with damp eyes at the end of it.
The music of August Rush speaks to your soul and you'll never be the same.
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