August Rush is a little bit like Once, it’s a musical and has a love story as its premise, and both were nominated for Best Song in the Oscars, which Once won.

August Rush however boasts a fantastic cast. Freddie Highmore this time as an unbelievable musical prodigy was miles better than his fantasy offer in The Spiderwick Chronicles. He’s back to form, I would say. But I said “unbelievable” because I don’t think a child prodigy is capable of what he did with music. He learnt the guitar and the piano just by picking them up. He learnt all the musical notes and signs just by looking at them. It’s all a little over the top and fantastical.

Keri Russell back with another solid performance but how her child could have been given up for adoption that easily is just another lazy writing attempt that somehow got approved.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers has a beautiful voice that should be a hit today. The songs he sang here were all beautiful but a little indulgent by what’s supposed to be a rock band.

Robin Williams in another rare performance where he didn’t crack jokes but was all serious, but he didn’t get enough screen time to give anything more to his character. Even having lesser screen time was Terrence Howard, and I do wonder why he signed up to do this.

I won’t argue about the predictability of the story because that’s not what this movie is about. But if you categorise this movie as a “fantasy”, then it’s easier to accept the story. Otherwise, it’s just one loophole after another which could really be a movie killer.

The music here, like Once’s, was the main driving force. And the cast gave great performances that made this a worthwhile experience amidst all the loopholes.

Rating: 6 / 10

(all images from imdb.com)