Netflix Summary:
After Lyla and Louis share an enchanted night together, circumstances rip them apart — and their child is raised by a stranger.
FYA Summary:
Gifted classical cellist Lyla meets smokin’ dude in a rock band, Louis, on a romantic New York rooftop. But their love doesn’t seem destined to last, because Lyla’s controlling father is determined to keep them apart. Isn’t that always the way? When she gives birth nine months later, her terrible father leads her to believe the baby died. Her son is subsequently raised in the foster system, until he runs away at age 11, and has a fateful series of adventures that put him right back in his parents’ path.
Familiar Faces:
Freddie Highmore is Evan Taylor/August Rush
Freddie was such a quirky, precious child, before he became Norman Bates.
Keri Russell is Lyla Novacek
In typical Keri Russell fashion, she’s so very great in this, and so is her hair.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers is Louis Connelly
Full disclosure: I love JRM, like an indecent amount. He’s so freakin’ dreamy, I’d have almost run off with him, too.
Robin Williams is Wizard Wallace
This is one of those intense, dramatic turns for Robin Williams. And his Wizard is impressively menacing.
Terrence Howard is Richard Jeffries
Richard Jeffries is the most empathetic civil servant. Is it weird that I’d rather he’d have been played by Don Cheadle?
Couch-Sharing Capability: Fateful
This is the perfect movie to share with your sweetie, as long as they’re the type who won’t make fun of you when you do the ugly cry. Keri Russell never cries alone in my presence. Or, you can share it with the fellow JRM obsessives in your life. I don’t judge.
Recommended Level of Inebriation: Sláinte
Lyla doesn’t seem like much of a drinker, but I feel certain Louis would want you to pour yourself a pint or toss back some Irish whiskey. But there’s no need to go full on Gallagher brothers.
Use of Your Streaming Subscription: Magical and Musical
This is right up there with Chasing Liberty, as far as pairing two insanely charming actors I adore in one movie, so that I will then happily watch it one million times. You’ll want to suspend all of your disbelief and just go along with all the impossible coincidences and star-crossed fairy tales that make August Rush the delight that it is. And believe me, I’m the one who gets so put out when I get conned into reading anything with magical realism, yet I cannot deny this movie’s innocent charm. If anyone ever deserves a happily ever after, it’s the characters in this movie. And us.
