Cheesy ‘August Rush’ tugs heartstrings despite predictability

Every story resembles another, but it's up to the later story to have a unique factor, something that makes it stand out. That's something that "August Rush" definitely achieves.

"August Rush" tells the story of a 12-year-old orphan named Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore), who dreams that one day he will be with his parents again.

This is, of course, not a special or extraordinary dream, however Evan's version does have its own little twist. He believes he can hear his parents through music, that through music he is connected to them.

The movie flashes back 11 years to when his parents meet in New York. It introduces the young and beautiful cellist Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) and young Irish rocker Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), who meet and fall in love in just moments.

After they're separated by Lyla's strict father, Louis gives up playing music, while Lyla learns she is pregnant. Then Lyla's baby is given up against her will and she, too, moves away from her music.

Back to the present, Evan runs away from his orphanage for New York, where he believes he will find his parents. It's in New York that Evan meets Wizard (Robin Williams), a loony musician who fosters homeless children with musical talent and puts them on street corners to earn money.

Living with Wizard, Evan discovers his inherited talent for music and becomes Wizard's star pupil.

However, with his new discovery of playing music, he feels an even stronger connection with his absent parents. The feeling is returned by Lyla and Louis, who both feel the urge to return to their musical roots.

The movie itself is very good and pulls at every emotion you may have. However, it does fall into a predictable pattern of coincidences. Then again, it also is possible that it isn't coincidence but rather a matter of fate that certain events must transpire.

A certain belief in the unrealistic is definitely a necessity to enjoy this movie. This is especially true when one of the three characters begins to play music, and one of the other two begins to play something that is completely cohesive with the first.

The music and lighting are distractions in the movie. The music is often too loud, and the lighting that illuminateds the characters is too bright. However, the music is supposed to be something that Evan hears with great passion, and the lighting does make things awe-inspiring.

"August Rush" definitely puts a twist on a classic story and has amazing control over emotions, but it is not for the person who doesn't enjoy a little bit of cheesiness.