History Film / AugustRush

&&* TheArtfulDodger: Arthur.

* AffablyEvil: Wizard.

* TheArtfulDodger: Arthur.
* ArtisticLicenseLaw:
** Lyla's father presumably paid a lawyer a large sum of money in order to forge Lyla's signature on adoption paperwork, but for a lawyer to go along with this plan would be highly unethical and could get them disbarred.
** It's unlikely that Evan, a healthy newborn, would be placed in a group home.
* ArtisticLicenseMusic: Electric guitars without amps, a so-so composition that gets him into Juilliard without the audition process, his sudden professional-grade skills at instruments and composition without any previous training. Generally the movie did not play well with musicians.

* BandOfRelatives: The Connelly Brothers

* ConcertClimax

* EarnYourHappyEnding

* EvilRedhead: Wizard.
* TheFagin: Wizard again
* {{Jerkass}}: The Wizard again.

* SerendipitousSymphony: A ''lot''.

* StarCrossedLovers: Lyla and Louis.
* TitleDrop: By Wizard.

* SanitySlippage: It's possible that Wizard was a person who was slowly losing it due to rough childhood, poverty, and general disillusionment with the world. It's even possible to craft a possible backstory to him, given hints from the movie.
** Based on his rant to Jeffries about what child protective services "really does", it seems he has personal experience with that situation. Plus the film seems to hint that he has been a street performer for a long time now, which doesn't pay well, and may have been why he took in all the other runaways in the first place, he may have genuinely believed they'd be better off with him than alone. Of course, it also appears even at his initial meeting, that he is a little unhinged, and the prospect of August being his "ticket to riches" (and then losing that prospect) just drove him deeper into madness until even Arthur (who seemed to think well of him at first) knows he needs to be stopped.

* HardWorkHardlyWorks: This kid just sort of... knows... music theory. To anyone who has actually studied music theory it's kind of insulting how this kid isn't ''taught'' anything, he just jumps straight into writing a symphony.

* NewYorkCitySubway: Evan escapes Wizard by running through the subway tunnels, though it's not clear how he got down there (those tracks are electrified!) or how he got out...there's just a cut from him running through the subway to him dressed and ready to perform at the concert in Central Park.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Evan has difficulty relating to other children and adults, grasping basic social cues, and does not generally comprehend sarcasm or when he's being taken advantage of. He's likely more naiive than the average 11-year-old due to his childhood in a group home, but it's played to an extreme.

* TheArtfulDodger: Arthur
* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Lyla's father presumably paid a lawyer a large sum of money in order to forge Lyla's signature on adoption paperwork, but for a lawyer to go along with this plan would be highly unethical and could get them disbarred.
** It's also unlikely that Evan, a healthy newborn, would be placed in a group home.

* [[MissedHimByThatMuch Missed Her By That Much]]: Louis trying to find Lyla the first time.

* TheBigApplesauce: The majority of the movie takes place in New York City.

* TheBigApple: The majority of the movie takes place in New York City.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: It would be highly unethical for a lawyer to assist Lyla's father in forging her signature on adoption papers; that could probably get him disbarred.

A boy named Evan Taylor (FreddieHighmore) lives in an orphanage but believes that his parents are alive. He believes that the music that he hears all around him (which others interpret as background noise) is his parents communicating with him. He meets a counselor, Richard Jeffries (Terrence Howard), of the New York Child Services Department. Evan tells Jeffries that he does not want to be adopted because he believes his parents are still alive and will come to collect him eventually.

''August Rush'' is a 2007 AcademyAward nominated drama film directed by Kirsten Sheridan and written by Paul Castro, Nick Castle, and James V. Hart, and produced by Richard Barton Lewis. It has been called an up-to-date reworking of the ''Literature/OliverTwist'' story by Creator/CharlesDickens.

* ChildProdigy: August, though as noted, solidly in ArtisticLicenseMusic territory. (In RealLife, even {{Mozart}} spent a few years studying music theory before he wrote his first simple compositions, whereas August is apparently able to compose for full orchestra within a few hours of the first time he ever sees music notation. Uh-huh.)

'''''August Rush''''' is a 2007 AcademyAward nominated drama film directed by Kirsten Sheridan and written by Paul Castro, Nick Castle, and James V. Hart, and produced by Richard Barton Lewis. It has been called an up-to-date reworking of the ''Literature/OliverTwist'' story by Creator/CharlesDickens.

* DyeingForYourArt: Creator/RobinWilliams dyed his hair red to play Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace.

* PlayingAgainstType: Robin Williams. Yeesh.

Through a series of flashbacks, his parents are revealed to be Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell), a famous concert cellist, and Louis Connelly (Creator/JonathanRhysMeyers), an Irish guitarist and lead singer of a rock band. Lyla and Louis spent one romantic night together and never saw each other again - they were forced to separate by Lyla's domineering father. Lyla became pregnant; her father did not approve because he wanted Lyla to have a successful career without the obstacle of a child. After an argument with her father, Lyla ran out of a restaurant and was hit by a car. While in the hospital, she gave birth to a son. Afterward, she was told by her father that her child had died, but he had been delivered successfully and then given up for adoption by her father, who forged Lyla's signature on the necessary paperwork.

Through a series of flashbacks, his parents are revealed to be Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell), a famous concert cellist, and Louis Connelly (JonathanRhysMeyers), an Irish guitarist and lead singer of a rock band. Lyla and Louis spent one romantic night together and never saw each other again - they were forced to separate by Lyla's domineering father. Lyla became pregnant; her father did not approve because he wanted Lyla to have a successful career without the obstacle of a child. After an argument with her father, Lyla ran out of a restaurant and was hit by a car. While in the hospital, she gave birth to a son. Afterward, she was told by her father that her child had died, but he had been delivered successfully and then given up for adoption by her father, who forged Lyla's signature on the necessary paperwork.

* MagicalNegro: Richard.

''August Rush'' is a 2007 AcademyAward nominated drama film directed by Kirsten Sheridan and written by Paul Castro, Nick Castle, and James V. Hart, and produced by Richard Barton Lewis. It has been called an up-to-date reworking of the ''Literature/OliverTwist'' story by Creator/CharlesDickens.

!! This movie contains examples of:
* AffablyEvil: Wizard

Evan believes deeply that as long as he follows the music he hears and reacts to it, he will have a chance to be found by his parents. He runs away from the state institution and makes his way to New York City, where he is taken in by a man known as "Wizard" (RobinWilliams), who houses various orphans and runaways, employing them to play music on the streets and taking a large cut of their tips. Evan immediately proves to be a musical child prodigy. Wizard enlists him and gives him the name "August Rush", convincing him that he will be sent back to the orphanage if his real name is ever discovered...

* DyeingForYourArt: RobinWilliams dyed his hair red to play Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace.