'Young Washington' Delivers Action, Adventure, and Ambition
Ambition runs through the new film Young Washington, both in the story and in the project itself. Making a film of a nation's foundational hero, especially one that focuses on his formative failures, can be a thankless task. Young George's ambition finds its match in Angel Studio's most audacious project yet, and both deliver on their promise.
Advertisement
Young Washington begins with the loss of Washington's father and the mentorship of his much-older half-brother, Lawrence (John Foss), who has to remind George of his station on several occasions. His mother Mary (Mary Louise Parker) tries to keep him on the farm and to settle for colonial gentryhood. George, however, wants more from life – adventure, honor, and access to the nobility in the colonies. By the time he reaches adulthood, George (William Franklyn-Miller) begins to realize the cost and folly of some of his ambitions, acquiring humility and character along the way but never seeing himself as lesser than others.
The film follows the true history of Washington in his youth in broad strokes well enough for a two-hour biopic, including his misadventures with the French on the frontier, which arguably kicked off the French and Indian War. In the film, Washington's ambition outpaces his abilities at the time, and he blunders through an expedition to push the French to leave the area. This results in a humiliation that forces Washington to rethink his ambitions and his approach, creating a wiser and more strategic leader who will one day emerge as the father of a nation. Along the way, Washington endures social humiliations as his ambitions for nobility result in defeats of another kind, which the film credits for sharpening Washington's egalitarian senses as well as his patriotism for his true native land.
Advertisement
This approach succeeds spectacularly in both humanizing the mythic figure of Washington and building the foundation for the myths to come. Young Washington grips the audience from the start, through both its storytelling and its gritty, spectacular action. The battle sequences are shot realistically and, at the end, with an epic scope. Even audiences more used to superhero fireworks will find themselves impressed by the tension and fraught nature of the perils facing Washington and his men, especially knowing that real stakes are involved. Director Jon Erwin delivers on his own ambitions by stepping up his directorial game in Young Washington.
In biopics such as these, it's easy to fall into two traps. The first is to make the subject so heroic as to leave humanity behind, which reduces all of the other characters into mere foils. The second trap is to deconstruct the subject so much that it leaves no room for the real mythos to breathe. Given the focus of Young Washington on his formative years and processes, the second trap posed a real risk. Angel Studios and Jon Erwin instead cut an almost perfect road between the two traps, making Washington a very human character with flaws, but also a man with admirable qualities, just waiting to fully emerge through the forge of adversity and failure.
Advertisement
Franklyn-Miller truly sells this in his first true leading role. Franklyn-Miller may be a little too handsome for even the younger version of Washington, but the film makes good use of that in the subplot where his social climbing leads to failure. It's an amazing performance, one that brings the audience into every emotion Washington feels. Mia Rodgers charms as George's true-life love interest Sally Cary, whose betrayal in the film is as inevitable as it is painful. (The film shortens this by necessity; the real-life story of the relationship is fascinating.) The cast gets A-list boosts from Sir Ben Kingsley, Kelsey Grammer, and Andy Serkis as Gen. Braddock. Of the supporting cast, Leo Hanna as Christopher Gist and Foss as Lawrence Washington deliver the most critical performances as warnings to Washington when he gets too far over his skis.
It's easy to see why Young Washington broke out to a surprising third-place finish at the box office over the July 4th weekend, given the subject material. However, it transcends the calendar to deliver a truly magnificent historical drama that both humanizes and celebrates an icon of the nation, perhaps the iconic man of America along with Abraham Lincoln. Grammer appears in the credits to urge people to buy tickets in Angel Studios' pay-it-forward strategy to expand the reach of their films, but also to make it the #1 film in America. That may be a tall order up against Toy Story 5 and Minions & Monsters, but Young Washington is the best film at the box office at the moment, and perhaps will compete for the finest film you'll see this year.
Advertisement
On the Hot Air scale, Young Washington gets a 5:
Young Washington is rated PG-13 for realistic violence. It may be too intense for small children, but pre-adolescents and above will appreciate it.