August Rush

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about August Rush's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of August Rush completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 26 February 2008.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie August Rush contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore) is an eleven-year-old orphan, growing up in the Walden Home for Boys. His parents, Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell), a famous classical cellist, and Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a rock guitarist, met in New York and had a one night fling. Neither of them knows that Evan is alive due to the fact that Lyla’s controlling father signed release papers for the baby’s adoption immediately after his birth. He also told Lyla that the baby didn’t survive childbirth after Lyla was hit by a car. He confesses the truth to her on his deathbed and Lyla sets out to locate her son.

Meanwhile Evan has always believed his parents are alive and thinks that he can ‘feel’ them through music. Evan, naturally musically talented, is totally absorbed by music and the sounds around him, making the other boys at the orphanage tease him for being ‘a freak’. Evan eventually runs away from the orphanage to find his parents and unfortunately runs into a very unpleasant character named Wizard (Robin Williams). Wizard controls a gang of boys who busk in the streets and collect money for him. He quickly sees the talent in Evan and the money the boy might bring him. Wizard suggests the name of August Rush as they see a bus drive by with it on and Evan assumes this name.

Evan’s luck improves when the police raid the dilapidated theatre the boys are living in, and Evan escapes. This time he hides in a church where the benevolent priest takes him in. Recognising his talent, the priest enrols him into an elite music school where he rapidly develops.

Themes

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Separation from a parent; being an orphan.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie including:

• At the Walden Home for Boys, a man kicks a boy
• Older boys at the home bully and threaten Evan – waking him up in the middle of the night.
• Louis has a couple of physical and verbal fights with a member of his band.
• Lyla argues with her father
• A boy gets hit by a car but is not hurt
• Wizard throws a knife into a table
• Wizard picks Evan up by the collar and slams him into a wall.
• A boy from Wizard’s gang hits Wizard over the head with a guitar.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of eight, including the following:

• Lyla is in hospital after being hit by a car (not actually shown) but she looks awful, with her face pasty and bruised.
• When Evan arrives in New York City the sights and sounds are quite scary.
  Evan meets Arthur busking in New York. Arthur takes him ‘home’ to a dilapidated, old theatre where there are a lot of homeless children and adults living.
• Wizard is a scary looking person.

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

In addition to the above mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

• Wizard’s control of Evan is quite scary. He arrives at the music school pretending to be Evan’s father and is very threatening to Evan. He persuades him to tell the music school director that he is in fact his father.

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Children in this age group are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• Pepsi

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• Discussion of the conception and birth of Evan

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some sexual activity in this movie, including:

• passionate kissing

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• Drinking and smoking in pubs, clubs and cars.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Crap
• Shit

The movie's message

August Rush is a movie which portrays the triumph of the human spirit over dire circumstances. It includes some lovely music and captures the depth and complexity of human emotions. The main message from this movie is to follow your heart.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• perseverance in following one’s beliefs
• the love of music

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• the consequences of casual sex, including a one night stand
• the long term effects of placing a child into custodial care
• the consequences of making important life decisions on behalf of others.