38
Metascore
27 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75USA TodayClaudia PuigUSA TodayClaudia PuigWill not be for everyone, but it works if you surrender to its lilting and unabashedly sentimental tale of evocative music and visual poetry.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe 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.
- 67Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldSeattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldIn the end, this could be the year's most sharply defined love-it-or-hate-it movie.
- 60EmpireAngie ErrigoEmpireAngie ErrigoUnapologetically preposterous, but it is a (very sweet) fairy tale and Highmore is captivating.
- 60VarietyVarietyOnly 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.
- 60Village VoiceVillage VoiceAcclimate 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.
- 50Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneIt’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.
- 40Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovAustin ChronicleMarc SavlovAugust 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.
- 30Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonIntended 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.
- 25ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliAugust Rush isn't just a bad movie - it's an aggressively bad movie.