“Listen . . . can you hear it? The music . . .” The music is the blood, the life force that flows through the arteries and veins of this movie. It’s all about the music and how it connects these three human beings, a son and his parents. August Rush: “The music. I thought if I could play it, they would know I was alive. And find me.” This movie was truly a pleasure to watch. The key to enjoying it is to get passed the far-fetched or slightly exaggerated premise, the touch of corniness, and the conveniently coincidental occurrences and you’ll be just fine. If you let these things bother you, you might not like it. Trust me, it’s worth the view if you take it at face value, especially if you are a fan of music. Speaking of the music, what a soundtrack! I haven’t heard anything this good since the movie Once. Mark Mancina, Hans Zimmer and crew have created a musical masterpiece for this film. It has got to be an Oscar nominee in the music category. The fairy tale story will draw you in and give you hope. You will find yourself routing on Evan, a.k.a. August Rush (Freddie Highmore), to reach his destination of finding his parents. The performance by Freddie is truly special border lining incomprehensible.

August Rush is an orphan. He has been at the orphanage for “eleven years and sixteen days. I've been counting.” His only purpose in life at this young age is to find his parents. Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) and Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) are both very strong in musical talent. Lyla is a successful cellist for an orchestra and Louis sings and plays guitar very well for his brother’s rock band. After a chance encounter and ensuing night together, Lyla ends up pregnant. Due to certain circumstances, the baby is given to the orphanage. The parents’ musical talent has been passed on to this child exponentially. He is a modern day Mozart, a naturally talented musical genius. He uses his gift to help him find his parents. August Rush: “It's like someone's calling out to me, only some of us can hear it.” He does hear it and he does something about it. No matter how much anyone tries to bring him down, he never buckles. He maintains a constant optimism, determination, and conviction that he will succeed in his quest. He can sense that they are all drawn together even though they are apart. He is one of the most bright spirited and mature orphans I have ever seen. It almost like he is music personified.

Unfortunately Priscilla missed this one and she would have loved it. She likes movies that deal with children and she is a big fan of music so this would have been double the pleasure for her. Other than the stunning performance by Freddie, Keri and Jonathan also give some stirring scenes. Terrence Howard is a busy man. It seems like he is in every other movie I see or hear about. He plays Richard Jeffries, a social worker that gets entangled with the boy and his mother. What can you say about Robin Williams. Not necessarily his best work but a strong performance nonetheless. His character is a lot more than what you see in the previews but I’ll let you find out for yourselves. An easily overlooked but very well done and cute performance was turned in by Jamia Simone Nash as Hope, one of the many people August runs into during his quest. She’s just adorable as August’s “piano teacher” (she’s about his age). The August Rush character is so upbeat and smiley that it’s a little disturbing, but it fits. As far as the locations and look of the movie, as I have mentioned before, you can’t go wrong with a New York backdrop. Director Kirsten Sheridan had been quiet for a while and she has busted out with this gem. She gives us a magical climax that even though it’s a little corny, it could very easily draw a tear or two. Lyla Novacek: “I know it sounds crazy, but I can hear him! I swear I can hear him!” Go see this movie so you can hear him too.