NOW IN THEATERS! Director Jon Erwin’s Young Washington isn’t interested in the George Washington printed on your dollar bill — it wants the twentysomething nobody betting his future on a war that isn’t even his to fight yet. This is a coming-of-age story dressed up as a history lesson, and it never once loses sight of that.
As a young boy, George Washington (William Franklyn-Miller) is raised by his mother, Mary Ball Washington (Mary-Louise Parker), and his older half-brother, Lawrence Washington (John Foss), after their father’s death. Lawrence takes it upon himself to turn George into a gentleman of decent manner and behavior. His influence is indelible, and in his young adulthood, he’s set his sights on one thing: a commission in the British Army. The trouble is, he was born in Virginia, not England, and no British officer or governor is willing to take a colonial-born nobody seriously.
Dejected, George crosses paths with Thomas Fairfax (Kelsey Grammer), a landowner sitting on a vast stretch of land in the Ohio Territory. No surveyors in their right mind would go near the territory, since those who enter never come back. George volunteers with his friend to survey and map the land. Out there, he runs into a group of Native Americans who aren’t sure which side they’re on and definitely don’t want him around, but, in a gesture of good faith, they lead him to something unexpected: a French fort secretly built in British territory.
George rides straight back to report it to the governor, Robert Dinwiddie (Ben Kingsley), who tells him to take the militia out there and order the French to leave. George asks about getting paid for the job. Dinwiddie tells him no, and that if he ever wants a real career, he’ll do it anyway. Ambition wins out. George takes the militia west, and without meaning to, starts the French and Indian War.
“George takes the militia west, and without meaning to, starts the French and Indian War.”
Young Washington is exactly what you think it is—a historical drama from Angel Studios, releasing on Fourth of July weekend. Some may call it cheesy — what were you expecting? It’s the making of a leader, and for that matter, the first president of the United States. We learn which events shaped George Washington into the man and leader he would become. He fights for the loyalty of his men and a country that doesn’t want him. In fact, the same British officers will dispose of him at a moment’s notice if it serves England alone.
The interesting thing here is watching the rumblings of the American Revolution emerge from the colonists’ interactions with the British. Every door the British close on George with cries of “you’re not one of us” quietly builds the case for what he is to become. I remember sitting through Western Civ and American History classes in high school where we watched movies just like this one, and I think Young Washington fits right into the classroom, showing a side of American history (just before the Revolution) and the roles our Founding Fathers faced. It’s not the most profound historical drama I’ve seen, but because I love this country and American history, it had me engaged. I learned things watching it.
As for the film itself, William Franklyn-Miller gives a fine performance as George Washington. He overcomes every necessary physical challenge and is backed by a solid cast including Kelsey Grammer, Ben Kingsley, Andy Serkis, and Mary-Louise Parker. Director Jon Erwin admirably drops us into the world of 1750 with its pristine American landscapes (the best backdrop Ireland offers). Again, indie filmmaking can easily produce anything the big studios come up with…or at least to a good-enough level.
Indie films and Angel Studios’ Young Washington fill in a small gap in the story of America’s birth. Take my advice: this one survives on strong performances and Erwin’s confident sense of place — not groundbreaking cinema, but a well-made piece of American cinematic history.
