In 1995, Lyla Novacek () is a cellist living under strict rule of her father (). Louis Connelly () is the lead singer of "The Connelly Brothers", an rock band. Lyla and Louis meet and sleep together. The day after, they separate in a hurry, and are unable to maintain contact as Lyla leaves for . Lyla realizes she is pregnant. After an argument with her father, she is struck by a car. Due to the accident trauma, she gives birth prematurely, and her father secretly puts her son up for adoption, allowing her to believe that the baby died.
Eleven years later, Evan Taylor () is living in a boys' outside , where he meets Richard Jeffries (), a . Evan has the savant-like ability to hear music wherever he is. Convinced that his parents will find him, Evan runs away to New York City, "following the music" in the hope it will lead him to his family. He finds a boy named Arthur () performing in .
Louis lives in , having left his band, while Lyla gave up performing and lives in Chicago. She is called to her father's deathbed and he admits that her child survived and is alive in New York. Lyla decides to abandon her father to his fate and moves to New York. Evan follows Arthur to his home in a condemned theater and is taken in by Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace (), a vagrant musician who teaches homeless children music and employs them as . Evan tries playing Wizard's prize guitar and is so good that Wizard gives him the guitar and his old spot in Washington Square Park. He gives Evan the "August Rush" and tries to market him to clubs. Seeing the posters that Jeffries has posted for the runaway Evan, Wizard destroys all the ones he finds, hoping to keep Evan and his gift for his own gain.
Louis decides to reconnect with Lyla and flies to Chicago to find her. Due to a misunderstanding, he ends up in New York, where he gets his band back together. The derelict theatre Wizard and his "children" are living in is raided by the police. After evading them, Evan (now "August") takes refuge in a church where a young girl, Hope (), introduces him to the piano and written music. He picks up this skill so quickly that Hope gets the attention of the parish pastor (), who enrolls August at the . A rhapsody takes shape from August's notes and homework.
In New York, Lyla goes to Jeffries' office and Jeffries identifies Evan as her son. She takes up the cello again and accepts an offer to perform with the Philharmonic at a series of concerts in . August is selected to perform the rhapsody he's been composing at the same concert. Wizard intrudes during a rehearsal and, claiming to be his father, pulls August out of the school threatening August to tell the authorities about his true identity. On the day of the outdoor concert, August is forbidden by Wizard to attend. August meets Louis in the park and tells him of his dilemma and Louis encourages him to go. August leaves Wizard with help from Arthur, who also rebels, and flees to the concert.
Jeffries identifies August as Evan and heads for the concert. August arrives in time to conduct his . Louis also arrives and reunites with Lyla, realizing she was playing at the concert. August finishes his rhapsody and as he turns to discover his parents, smiles knowing that he was always right about knowing they loved him and gratified that his faith in fate has proven itself.
I give it 4/5 stars
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