August Rush is the kind of movie that so wholeheartedly believes in its characters and its story that it asks that any kind of disbelief not only be merely suspended, but expelled into oblivion. There is such a thing as good sentimentality and bad sentimentality and if it is said that good sentimentality depends entirely on having its heart in the right place, the movie boldly takes that idea literally and sets itself to the very thing our heartbeat constantly, naturally, dictates: music. “I believe in music the way some people believe in fairy tales,” the hero says in the opening and this story is a real fairy tale for music lovers.

Obviously, not all music lovers may have the musical prodigy’s talent of orphan Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore) but they will relate to his fundamental conviction that music will always be heard by someone. In Evan’s case, his belief is that his biological parents - who were also musicians - will hear him if he plays and he will be reunited with them through the power of music. That is also just how his parents, Lyla (Keri Russell) and Louis (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), met and fell in love at first sight (namely by the song, “Moondance,” which is one of my favorite tunes).

Things fell apart after they were together for only one night, however, as we see Lyla’s father, Thomas (William Sadler) forcing her to concentrate on becoming a professional cellist. Then, of course, she is pregnant after that brief encounter with Louis, who is a lead rock guitarist and singer for a small band, and Thomas says that she must give the baby up. After an ensuing fight with her father, she gets hit by a car and is told that the baby died, though in reality Thomas gave Evan up for adoption in order to keep her focused on her career.

The movie’s first act cuts back and forth between Evan as an 11-year-old boy ostracized by his peers for his belief in music and Lyla and Louis’ bittersweet encounter until Evan decides to run away to New York City and really find his parents. Following wherever he hears any kind of a beat, he soon runs into a young street musician, Arthur (Leon G. Thomas III) in Central Park. It turns out that Arthur is one of a group of runaways recruited by Max Wallace, aka Wizard (Robin Williams), to perform on various street corners to earn him money. After seeing that Evan is a natural music prodigy, Wizard gives him a new name, August Rush.