SPOILER ALERT - If you haven't seen this film, you may wish to read this review later. If you have seen the film and enjoyed it, you may want to skip this review altogether!

Director: Kirsten Sheridan

Writers: Nick Castle (The Last Starfighter), James V. Hart (Hook); story credited to Nick Castle and Paul Castro.

Main characters:
Evan Taylor aka August Rush (Freddie Highmore): a boy who has lived in an orphanage since birth. He hears music in everything and proves to be a musical genius. He refuses adoption because he believes that his parents are looking for him and wants to make it easy for them to find him.

Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell), professional classical musician; Evan's mother.

Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Irish guitar player; Evan's father.

Thomas Novacek (William Sadler), Lyla's controlling father who lies to her about the fate of her newborn son (conceived during one-night stand with the guitar player).

Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace (Robin Williams), the exploiting "father" of a troupe of homeless street musicians. He recognizes Evan's gift, renames the boy "August Rush," and promotes him as his protegé.

Arthur (Leon Thomas III), Wizard's favorite street child until the arrival of Evan.

If this were the only film in which I'd ever seen Freddie Highmore, I wouldn't think much of his acting ability. However, I saw him in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) so I know that he is capable of superb acting.

The intention, I suppose, was to create a work of magical realism, but the magic and the reality make an uncomfortable fit. Part of the problem may lie with the directing and part with the editing. Then too, the story is pretty lame.

Director Kirsten Sheridan is credited at IMDb with six other feature films, but I've never heard of any of them and August Rush doesn't leave me wanting to watch them.

Tagged as an "urban fairy tale," the story of August Rush resembles that of Dickens's Oliver Twist. The main character is an orphan who escapes mistreatment in an orphanage, only to fall into the abusive hands of the Shylock-type character of the Wizard.

Unlike Oliver, Evan possesses a unique talent. He can play any musical instrument without instruction and as soon as he is taught music theory, he is able to compose a rhapsody worthy of public performance.

Although nothing is said of any developmental problems that Evan may have, he gives the impression of being autistic. Perhaps the director was trying to elicit a fairy tale quality from Highmore by asking for a "dreamy" quality in his acting, but it just comes across as slow and absent-minded.

The magical parts of the story--spiritual bond between parents and child, serendipity, destiny--get lost in the realistic parts. The plight of the children exploited by the Williams character is painful to witness. The passivity of Lyla Novacek makes me want to slap her. And the Irish guitar player seems like a spineless lay-about.

Because so much realistic detail is included, the multiple coincidences become annoying.

The liveliest and most memorable performance in the entire film belongs to Jamia Nash as Hope. This little girl has personality plus!

I like fairy tales as much as anyone. Another Robin Williams film, for example, The Fisher King, is an urban fairy tale that is extremely well done, with just the right mix of magic and reality. Pretty Woman is another fairy tale that works (even though I deplore the message). August Rush, however, is neither fish nor fowl. It fails to lift the viewer to the necessary level of willing disbelief.