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The film also suffers from some uninspired visuals, especially in the climactic scene, where the theme of reunion—the big pay-off that the film has been building toward all this time—is undercut by the use of close-ups, which tend to isolate characters within the frame instead of emphasizing their togetherness.

Problems like that aside, the film does have its merits, suggesting as it does that the world is full of mystery and purpose, if only we take the time to listen. It helps that the film has a decent score by Mark Mancina and some nimble work by Kaki King, whose hands we see in the close-ups when Evan plays the guitar. One character remarks that music communicates without words and pictures, and at times, in this film, the music suffices even when the words and pictures let it down.

Talk About It

1. Evan and Wizard agree that the world is filled with music, but only some people can hear it—possibly because only some people are listening. Do you agree? Is the world filled with music? Could everybody hear it if they listened hard enough?
2. What is the nature of this music? In what way does music reflect the way humans bear the image of God, or the way God has filled creation with his creativity?
3. Wizard says you can't learn music from books. Do you agree? In what ways do books help us to explore our talents? In what ways might they limit us?

The Family Corner

August Rush is rated PG for some thematic elements (a woman has a child after spending one night with a man, though both she and the man are wearing all their clothes when they wake up in the morning; a homeless child says his mother ran off with a crackhead; police raid an abandoned theater populated by homeless children and the man who lives off of their earnings), mild violence (brothers throw a punch or two at each other), and language (a few phrases like "damn fool").

Photos © Copyright Warner Brothers

© Peter T. Chattaway subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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