Product Details

• Actors: Josh Hartnett, Naomie Harris, Adam Scott, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Andre Royo
• Directors: Austin Chick
• Producers: Josh Hartnett, Charlie Corwin, David Guy Levy
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: FIRST LOOK PICTURES
• DVD Release Date: August 26, 2008
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00177YA74
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #70,036 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "August" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The specter of September 11th looms over August--there are numerous indications that it’s set in 2001, and the title alone is an ominous indication of the imminence of that awful day--but watching this 2008 offering, one gets the feeling that even if Tom Sterling knew 9/11 was coming, he wouldn’t change a thing. As written by Howard A. Rodman, directed by Austin Chick, and portrayed by John Hartnett, Tom is almost completely unlikable. A dot-com entrepreneur in those heady days before the techno bubble burst and internet companies like his Land Shark went directly south, Tom’s hipper than his neck tattoo, disdainful of his competition, borderline abusive to his younger, meeker brother (the technical brains behind the company they founded together), hostile to his parents, and a jerk to his former girlfriend, the one person he actually seems to care about. He’s also a master at talking loud and saying absolutely nothing. One of the filmmakers’ conceits is that we’re never told exactly what it is that Land Shark does; Tom mouths some nonsense about providing "bleeding-edge, mission-critical, cross-platform, robust, scale-able architectures," but the company’s principal function, as his dad (Rip Torn) puts it, seems to be to provide office space for his young employees to eat Oreos and play computer solitaire, and when Land Shark meets the fate of others of its ilk, it’s mighty hard to care. No flies on Hartnett--the guy is a star, and rarely less than watchable. But August is a cold film, in both look and feel, and even a brief but memorable scene near the end with David Bowie as the one character who seems able to talk straight won’t keep you from wanting to take a shower when it’s all over. --Sam Graham

Product Description

AUGUST follows Tom Sterling (Josh Hartnett) as an aggressive, young dot-com entrepreneur who fights to keep his start-up company afloat. Tom finds himself on a personal and professional downward spiral as he struggles to reunite with girlfriend Sarrah (Naomie Harris), attempts to regain control of his company from his apathetic investor Ogilvie (David Bowie), and must deal with age-old family wounds with his father, David (Rip Torn) and his brother Joshua (Adam Scott). The film also stars Emmanuelle Chriqui as Morela and Andre Royo as Dylan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating cast, disappointing film., August 24, 2008

By	Steve Kuehl "SLV Video" (Ben Lomond, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I had wondered when a mainstream film would attempt to show the business sector just prior to 9/11, and this was advertised to be it - all the way down to the month name in the title. By itself August would mean nothing in a title unless it had something to do with what changes the world a couple weeks later.

The casting choices also peaked my interest with David Bowie, Rip Torn, Chirqui and Naomie Harris. Josh Hartnett plays the CEO of an Internet company going through significant financial troubles. He plays the front of the future being extremely bright and everything being OK, even though his company should have been folding yesterday. Especially once the mandated recovery deadline of September 14th passes, the world should be his oyster. With them actually mentioning an important date for their company, I thought the film might go that far chronologically, but they do not.

The story starts right out in the high gear Hartnett's character plays most of the film, but it quickly dissipates into boring subplots, tons of unanswered questions, and eventually really bad acting. Even Torn's performance was staged (on purpose I guess since he is way better than this). The one saving grace comes towards the end with David Bowie's three minutes on screen; he was very believable as the hostile takeover kind of guy. But he vanishes and the film comes to an ambiguous ending that never even alludes to the upcoming destruction. It just fades to black and you realize you just wasted 90 minutes. They do interject one CGI shot of the twin towers, but nothing else ties together to the title relevance.

Hartnett is adequate, but his upcoming role in I Come With the Rain looks significantly more challenging and productive. Chirqui's role was for two scenes, and Torn for just a few minutes. Overall, this can't be given a higher rating as honestly, nothing really happens.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Distinctly underappreciated, November 10, 2009

By	One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: August (DVD)

The Bottom Line:

Weaving an unmistakable atmosphere of gloom over the story of an arrogant dot-commer attempting to keep his dying company afloat several months after most other such companies have collapsed, director Austin Chick elevates August into quite a little modern tragedy; it was panned by critics but between the electric performance by David Bowie in the film's final act, a wonderfully sour Rip Torn, and the aforementioned direction by Chick there is a great deal to like in this already-forgotten picture

3/4

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A drama without drama, March 1, 2009

By	Stephanie L (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

Josh Hartnett doesn't do too many bad movies. While they aren't exactly blockbusters, they're usually conciderably entertaining. I don't know what went wrong with this film though. This was one of the dullest movies I've ever seen. The film follows a cocky young buisnessman around watching his company go from being the #1 new start up to dropping to nearly nothing until he has to sell it to David Bowie. It's a drama without drama I guess. There was just no point to it. A big disapointment.