August (2008)
Average Rating: 4.7/10
Reviews Counted: 26
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 17
Josh Hartnett puts in a well-intentioned performance but overall, August only superficially explores its dotcom-burst setting.
Average Rating: 4.2/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 8
Josh Hartnett puts in a well-intentioned performance but overall, August only superficially explores its dotcom-burst setting.
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Average Rating: 2.6/5
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Movie Info
Josh Hartnett, Naomie Harris, Rip Torn, and Adam Scott star in director/co-screenwriter Austin Chick's tale about an ambitious dotcom entrepreneur attempting to stay afloat as the stock market begins to collapse and the entire country remains blissfully unaware of the national tragedy looming ever closer on the horizon. Tom Sterling (Hartnett) is on a professional downward spiral that's rapidly cutting into his personal life as well. His apathetic investor, Ogilvie (David Bowie), is refusing to
Jan 22, 2008 Wide
Aug 26, 2008
Original Media
Cast
-
Josh Hartnett
Tom Sterling -
Naomie Harris
Sarrah -
Adam Scott
Joshua Sterling -
Robin Tunney
Melanie Hanson -
Emmanuelle Chriqui
Morela Sterling -
Andre Royo
Dylan Gottschalk -
Rip Torn
David Sterling -
David Bowie
Cyrus Ogilvie -
Carmine Dibenedetto
Tyler -
Caroline Lagerfelt
Nancy Sterling -
Francesca Tedeschi
Cheyenne -
Jeffrey Evan Thomas
Chad
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All Critics (27) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (9) | Rotten (19) | DVD (5)
Anyone who thinks that Josh Hartnett isn't a true movie star should see his riveting, high-wire performance in August, a shrewdly dramatized look back at the bursting of the dot-com bubble.
Smartly scripted, convincingly atmospheric morality fable in which Hartnett, usually insubstantial as a good guy, plays a convincingly flawed character galloping toward the precipice.
Only an amusing cameo by David Bowie enlivens things, but he's onscreen for just about two minutes at the end.
There's not much to it, but Austin Chick's hyper-focused indie does serve as a nicely assured showcase for lead Josh Hartnett.
Has a dark desperation thatâ(TM)s morbidly compelling. But the movieâ(TM)s amoral momentum is fatally slowed by an acronym-heavy script and flimsy characterizations that offer fine actors...little to play.
August seems to be missing something essential -- a prologue? Or maybe it's not what's missing that's the problem, but what's here.
This one has nothing extraordinary about it to compensate for seven years' staleness.
A movie that makes a good initial public offering.
A procession of anger mismanagement protagonist episodes of rude behavior with assorted unbelievably receptive babes, and a glutton-for-punishment old flame (Naomie Harris) whom he manages to re-con into bed, before she wises up all over again.
If you want to see ignorant self destruction, see Troy Duffy in "Overnight" and forget this film---the worst mistake Josh Hartnett has made in his career.
While this modest indie offers high-tension plotting, it's real substance is the contrast between Hartnett's charismatic, hard-charging business persona and his intimacy-challenged real-life relationships.
...the picture ... provides Josh Hartnett with one of his most interesting roles, and it elicits one of his sharpest performances.
This stylish, well acted drama chronicles one once-successful dot-com's efforts to stay afloat in the wake of the Internet boom's bust.
all gloss and pizzazz but mostly pizz and no azz.
August is a brooding, boring indie drama about the death of the culture-wide hallucination that was the dot-com bubble, and the moment when countless dot-com millionaires on paper became real-life paupers.
Merely serves to watch a company's ashes fall without really considering what started the fire.
Audience Reviews for August
[font=Century Gothic][/font]
[font=Century Gothic]By August 2001, that is no longer an option as the dot com bubble has burst, sending the stock price plummeting. Tom is the last person to realize how much trouble Landshark is in as his employees have stopped working with little to do.(However, they are still too busy to send out resumes.) Since there is nothing left but the funeral, there is little of interest except watching Tom attempt to save his company as the vultures close in. One bright spot for him is reconnecting with his old flame Sarrah(Naomie Harris) who has been living in Spain. Landshark may be without hope but the movie might have had a chance with a decent performance in the lead but Josh Hartnett lacks the magnetism and talent to play such a charismatic heel.[/font]
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Top Critic
It's hard to tell if Tom Sterling is a failed character because of the script or because of Hartnett's performance. He seems to have a rich understanding of the material (he also produced the film), but I think he lacks the range of expression required to humanize this character. Really, despite what August wants us to think, Tom really just comes across as an incompetent asshole. Short of an effortless deflation by David Bowie late in the film, he's actually part of very few substantial events through the course of the story, so there aren't many opportunities to see him react other than trying to overwhelm his problems with sheer bullheadedness. I guess it's a deficiency of writing, for the most part, but the point is that it's a character piece that fails. It's unique, and not a total disaster, but August is entirely skippable.