August Rush

I've been traveling on business a lot lately, drafting but not posting. But last night was a family movie night, and the selection was "August Rush."

This is a great title for a film about the push to DCI finals, or the start of band camp and the efforts to teach the freshman technique while simultaneously learning the new show. That's not what this film is about.

It is about a kid, an unadopted (unadoptable?) orphan, who believes he is connected to his birth parents through the music he hears in his head. (The movie website IMDB has more.) This film really brought out the essence of music all around us. Although not central to the plot, you come away realizing that the kids feel it, and we adults have to work hard to hear it.

I don't often find reasons to see films more than once, but I could "watch" this one again if only for the music. Film can be like music, too, and this one builds to an ending that I found thoroughly satisfying, although my wife didn't. We found ourselves discussing it much like we discuss the end of a drum corps show - did it need power or a finesse?

By the way, throughout the film, listen for the music August hears, because you will find that It's a Marvelous Night for a "Moondance". (The film was an Oscar nominee for "Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song".)