Getting a Rush

I am not a huge movie buff.  Sure, I enjoy movies, but it is not my primary form of entertainment and a good 80% or more of movies I read about in the paper are just a big yippee in my book.  That said, every once in a while a gem comes out that almost requires me to buy the DVD, er- if I actually bought DVDs (let’s just say I’m chea-, um… frugal and leave it at that 😛 ).  The movie I’m referring to is titled August Rush.  Released in 2007, it stars Freddie Highmore (Spiderwick Chronicles, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Finding Neverland) as a Evan Taylor, a musical super-prodigy who seemingly puts ordinary prodigies like Mozart to shame.  Any instrument he picked up in this movie he was able to play just a short time later.  He never saw musical notation before, yet started writing music while the girl who brought him in at one point was at school.  Wait- why wasn’t Evan at school?  Well, this is a key point of the story.  He is a runaway orphan.  Only he shouldn’t be an orphan.  Conceived in a one night affair between two musicians (Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers) his father never knew about him and his mother, through the machinations of her wealthy father, though he died at birth.  Evan ran away to find his mother, who he believed he could find through the music he could hear in his mind.  Not unlike a certain Charles Dickens tale, he finds himself in the big city of New York and meets a child street musician who eventually takes him in to meet the Fagin of this movie, Robin Williams as the Wizard, who quickly latches on to Evan as a means to make money once he becomes aware of Evan’s talent at playing the guitar in a .

Continuing the Oliver Twist Theme Evan soon finds himself under another roof, and a bed that clearly makes another connection to our 19th century story with a sign above it that says “God is Love.”  Here his composing talent is now discovered by a minister who wastes no time getting him into Julliard where Evan composes a symphony.  However, remember what happens to poor Oliver after he gets himself away from Fagin’s gang?  Well, Evan is found by the Wizard, who claims to be Evan’s father and promptly removes him Julliard, though the symphony he composed is still set to be played in Central Park (I think that’s the park).

What about his parents?  Well, neither of them found happiness and in fact quit their music shortly after their fling.  Twelve years later they find themselves in separate parts of the country, neither place New York where Evan is.  Meyers’s character gets an urge to find his lost love again, and after finding her phone number but not being able to get a hold of her, and going to her home where she is nowhere to be found, he tries New York since that’s where they first met.  And where is she?  Come on now, just one guess.  That’s right, she went to New York too, but for a far more logical reason.  Her dad finally ‘fessed up to what he did and she is searching for her child who of course had already run away.  By the end of the movie it turned out Evan was right- through music, his music, he found his mother.  Or rather, she found him.  And she in turn was found by her ex at the same time.  He must have been shocked to find out that he had a son (who he coincidentally had met just a short time earlier- see picture above- as he was playing with his guitar, having no idea just who he was talking to).

I guess I enjoyed this movie so much in part because of the ties to Oliver!, which was at one time my favorite musical.  Plus, it deals with music which I understand, having been a musician of sorts since 5th grade.  The road to their eventual but clearly obvious meeting kept me glued to the screen as well.  The plotline was a little ridiculous at times- I mean, his gift is really a bit over the top, and neither the preacher nor the staff at Julliard called the police or child services after discovering him which would realistically set them up on some sort of criminal charges- but then they do call this movie an urban fairy tale so a little unrealism is expected.  If you enjoy music, Oliver Twist, or stories of separated people finding each other, see this movie.  If you don’t, then see it anyway.  🙂

Derek