August Rush

I like actor Freddie Highmore and think it’s pretty cool he learned some guitar for his role as the title character in the modern-day Oliver Twist. Too bad the movie is one of the year’s worst. Highmore plays an orphan whose parents (Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Keri Russell) didn’t bother to exchange phone numbers after his conception. The boy hears his parents in the music of the world, or some shit like that, and he goes on a journey to find them in New York. While there, he walks around looking precocious, and he never combs his hair. He also meets up with Robin Williams doing a lousy Bono impersonation and gets a scholarship at Julliard for his nifty, guitar-slapping style. (He plays like the late Michael Hedges!) Everything culminates with a big concert in the park, where August dons a tuxedo and conducts an orchestra playing his shitty symphony. I truly hate movies like this.