Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

38 12 Rounds
48 17 Again
76 Adventureland
48 Angels & Demons
54 Battle for Terra
xx Bruno
80 Coraline
40 Dance Flick
83 Drag Me to Hell
72 Earth
45 Fast & Furious
61 Fighting
34 Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
72 Gran Torino
73 Hangover, The
47 Hannah Montana: The Movie
51 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
54 Imagine That
41 Knowing
32 Land of the Lost
56 Monsters vs. Aliens
34 My Life in Ruins
51 My Sister's Keeper
46 Next Day Air
42 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
54 Observe and Report
25 Obsessed
48 Proposal, The
70 Public Enemies
61 Soloist, The
83 Star Trek
64 State of Play
55 Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, The
52 Terminator Salvation
35 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
77 Under the Sea 3D
88 Up
43 X-Men Origins: Wolverine
34 Year One

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

sort by name

sort by score

67 $9.99
75 24 City
66 Adoration
74 Afghan Star
48 Alien Trespass
56 American Violet
82 Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57 Away We Go
81 Beaches of Agnes, The
62 Big Man Japan
28 Big Shot-Caller, The
78 Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55 Brothers Bloom, The
82 Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx Call of the Wild
63 Cheri
62 Cherry Blossoms
63 Dead Snow
65 Departures
18 Downloading Nancy
58 Easy Virtue
70 End of the Line, The
77 Every Little Step
64 Examined Life
80 Food, Inc.
38 Gigantic
56 Girl from Monaco, The
67 Girlfriend Experience, The
87 Gomorrah
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Great Buck Howard, The
79 Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx Home
82 Hunger
91 Hurt Locker, The
16 I Hate Valentine's Day
81 Il Divo
54 Is Anybody There?
71 Jerichow
58 Julia
74 Lemon Tree
36 Life is Hot in Cracktown
40 Limits of Control, The
42 Little Ashes
64 Lymelife
50 Management
57 Merry Gentleman, The
66 Moon
35 New York
62 Not Forgotten
xx Offshore
78 O'Horten
64 Outrage
40 Paris 36
54 Pontypool
71 Pressure Cooker
52 Quiet Chaos
83 Revanche
67 Rudo y Cursi
86 Seraphine
65 Sex Positive
70 Shall We Kiss?
77 Sin Nombre
59 Sleep Dealer
74 Song of Sparrows, The
54 Stoning of Soraya M., The
82 Sugar
84 Summer Hours
61 Sunshine Cleaning
28 Surveillance
42 Tennessee
63 Tetro
64 Throw Down Your Heart
80 Tokyo Sonata
63 Tokyo!
70 Tony Manero
74 Treeless Mountain
88 Tulpan
74 Two Lovers
83 Tyson
83 U2 3D
60 Under Our Skin
69 Unmistaken Child
69 Valentino: The Last Emperor
22 What Goes Up
45 Whatever Works
57 Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

August Rush
Warner Bros. Pictures


7.6

based on 27 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 131 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG for some thematic elements, mild violence and language

Starring Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard, and Robin Williams

A charismatic young Irish guitarist and a sheltered young cellist have a chance encounter one magical night above New York's Washington Square, but are soon torn apart, leaving in their wake an infant, orphaned by circumstance. Years later, performing on the streets of New York and cared for by a mysterious stranger who gives him the name August Rush, the child uses his remarkable musical talent to seek the parents from whom he was separated at birth. (Warner Bros.)

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Nick Castle James V. Hart
DIRECTED BY:	Kirsten Sheridan
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 11, 2008 Theatrical: November 21, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	100 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

USA Today Claudia Puig

Will not be for everyone, but it works if you surrender to its lilting and unabashedly sentimental tale of evocative music and visual poetry.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

I'd rather August Rush went the whole way than just be lukewarm about it. Yes, some older viewers will groan, but I think up to a certain age, kids will buy it, and in imagining their response, I enjoyed my own.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

The story is about musicians and how music connects people, so the movie's score and songs, created by composers Mark Mancina and Hans Zimmer, give poetic whimsy to an implausible tale.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

In the end, this could be the year's most sharply defined love-it-or-hate-it movie.

Variety Jay Weissberg

Only auds immune to diabetic rushes should head for August Rush, though tolerant parents wanting wholesome entertainment for the kids will like it for its repetitive encouragement of creativity.

Village Voice Ella Taylor

Acclimate yourself to the frenzied vibe, and you'll feel the movie grow into itself as an urban fairy tale whose rapturous finale stakes a wishful claim on the redemptive power of love and art.

Empire Angie Errigo

Unapologetically preposterous, but it is a (very sweet) fairy tale and Highmore is captivating.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

Feels like the cinematic equivalent of being stuffed with fruitcake and doused with a gallon of egg nog, so if that's the sort of thing you go in for around the holidays . . .

Chicago Tribune Sid Smith

It’s an unabashed feel-good weeper, and those eager for that type of fare might as well settle for this one. But an equal number will be put off by the bad dialogue, transparent manipulation and saccharine overkill.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

The dialogue is dippy. And there's no real suspense: The filmmakers are so deadly earnest about the power of music and love and all that stuff, you just twiddle your thumbs waiting for the inevitable.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

The plot is preposterous. Particularly the part about a kid who has never before played an instrument, but can pick up a guitar and play like Eric Clapton and belly up to a church organ and perform like Mozart.

Premiere Karl Rozemeyer

For those who loved his singing in "Velvet Goldmine," Rhys-Meyers once again proves that he has pipes.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

August Rush is a rather prosaic, oddly anxious, contemporary take on Dickens' Oliver Twist, with Williams – in nasty-man twee mode, a newish one for him – thrown in for bad measure.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

To describe August Rush as a piece of shameless hokum doesn’t quite do justice to the potentially shock-inducing sugar content of this contemporary fairy tale.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

It would be nice to say this predictable fantasy has such a big heart, we can forgive its excesses. But director Kirsten Sheridan overplays nearly every already-corny scene, and there is no chemistry between Russell and Rhys Meyers, who appear to be passing through on their way to better projects.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

This is the sort of movie that requires you not only to suspend disbelief, but to check your sanity at the ticket counter.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Odd, quasi-mystical movie that’s too silly for adults to take seriously and frankly too weird for kids.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

You'll have to swallow this gooey confection whole or spit it out after the first couple of bites.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

The Hollywood version of one of those fawning "60 Minutes" segments about musical prodigies. For most of it, I could hear the congested awe of Morley Safer.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Robin Williams (yes, I'm afraid so) plays a kind of Manhattan-based Fagin with a touch of Midnight Cowboy to his wardrobe. And ants will play havoc in any cynic's pants as this loopy, goopy fairy tale about a kid looking for his parents oozes to its predictable finish.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Poetic conceits only work if they're poetic.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Simultaneously swooningly romantic and transcendently idiotic.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Williams's overacting, Russell's pinched melancholy, and Highmore's unflagging chirpiness would be trying enough on their own, but the convoluted story, with its pileup of obstacles and coincidences, makes this sophomore effort by director Kirsten Sheridan (Disco Pigs) an exercise in dissonance.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Intended as a fuzzy family fable, "August" plays more to the gag reflex than to the heart, especially when our little orphan starts playing the guitar like a virtuoso after what seems like a three-minute tutorial.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

August Rush isn't just a bad movie - it's an aggressively bad movie.

San Francisco Chronicle Pam Grady

An inane musical melodrama.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter

A sickly sweet family drama.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 131 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ethan N gave it a2:
I gave this movie a two because I want to honor the effort of those involved in its production... but no, it's not intelligent, it's not realistic and I found it far from convincing. If you are a musician of any kind, save yourself (and your TV) the shoe-throwing impulse and avoid this movie. This is a chlidren's movie with grown-up problems.

steve s gave it a4:
I gave this movie a 4 just because the music was so enjoyable and the concept so nice. but what a mess. i so wanted to enjoy this movie which was recommended by a number of people. if it werent for the not very good acting, the suspension of disbelief required (ie. almost every minute of every scene), and the "silliness" of the whole thing, this potentially nice fairy tale couldve been closer to a masterpiece. instead, i watched it more frustrated than entertained.

Alex R gave it a10:
While the movie is unrealistic, it is certainly more realistic that most other movies. That said, that movie was fantastic, inspirational, and incredibly convincing. One of the best I've ever seen.

Cindy L. gave it a10:
This movie is one of my favorites!! My children too. It is on of those tug at your heart strings and SMILE big in the end. IT WAS ABOUT A FAMILY FINDING COMING TOGETHER!! If some people would have gotten that instead of focusing on insignificant issues.

Joseph D. gave it a10:
Like the movie Somewhere In Time the critics missed the mark on this one. The movie was very good even if it was inplausable. Sound cannot be heard in space does this mean you give Star Wars a bad rating. This movie is one more reason why the viewer should be their own critic.

[Anonymous] gave it a9:
I don't understand why this movie was given such a low rating. I thought it was fantastic in almost every aspect. Granted not evryone will like it, but it's a film that you'll either love or hate, and I loved it. Freddie Highmore is amazing.

Ian S. gave it a10:
While following the complex plot takes some intellegence, August Rush delivers a good cast; interesting plot; great performances by Highmore, Rhys Meyers, and Russell; all paired with a soundtrack and score powerful enough to bring tears to the biggest machismo's eyes. Unfortunately, this world seems to have let the definition of 'prodigy' fall out of common knowledge. While August's sheer talent may be overexaggerated, the tone and whimsy allow this to pass.

August Rush Warner Bros. Pictures

August Rush
Warner Bros. Pictures