This is the movie that I had to travel the furthest to see. I found it at a $2 theater in Norwalk, CA- 40 miles south of LA. My boyfriend and I made it into a day trip and I got some Chick-Fil-A out of the deal, which is generally an east coast delicacy for me.

Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore) is an orphan who thinks he can find his musician parents by following the music in his heart, so he runs away from the orphanage to New York City to do just that. Meanwhile, his mother Lyla (Keri Russell) and father Louis (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) live states apart and have given up their music for more traditional careers, though they long to return to the lives they once lead. Robin Williams also stars as the wacky musician bum “Wizard” that takes Evan under his wing and gives him the moniker August Rush and Terrence Howard plays the child services worker searching New York for Evan. Save for Robin Williams, the cast of this film is fantastic. Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers have amazing chemistry and Freddie Highmore is great as the wide-eyed musical prodigy. Robin Williams, however, is over the top and uncomfortably weird. As Wizard, he lives in an abandoned building with scores of other homeless children, mentoring them and skimming their profits. His behavior towards them is similar to that of Peter Pan and his Lost Boys, harking back to Williams' glory days in Hook, except a grown up Peter Pan could goof around with the Lost Boys, however in any other context it’s just creepy. The Wizard character felt completely unnecessary and every time he had a scene it discredited the film a little bit more. The music, however, saved it from being just mediocre. I love music and I love movies, so music in movies is an ultimate for me. Musicals like this one put me over the moon. Original songs mixed with classics (“Moondance” is significantly used on it’s own and also incorporated into the score and it makes me very, very happy), this film hit all the right notes with its score and soundtrack. I really enjoyed it, enough to overlook all of William’s scenes and just focus on a cute story with some great tunes.

Nominations:

Best Song – “Raise It Up”
I assumed that the song nominated from this film was Evan’s ultimate composition, “August’s Rhapsody” or Louis’ sweet ballot “This Time.” However, when I looked up the song on iTunes and saw it was “Raise It Up,” I was ecstatic. Performed by a church choir, Evan hears this song when he is drawn into a church by the music. It’s a great song, but what really stands out about this scene is when a little girl named Hope, no more than ten years old and played by Jamia Simone Nash, steps out of the choir and begins to belt out the lead vocals. The voice on this little girl is absolutely astounding and the first thing I did when I got home was look her up. You can see her singing Mary J. Blige’s “Be Without You” here…prepare to be blown away. She’ll also be performing “Raise it Up” at the Oscars on Sunday and I absolutely can’t wait.