REVIEW: YOUNG WASHINGTON

THE GIST

Young Washington does a good job of showing us the imperfect young man George Washington once was. Unfortunately, at least from this portrayal, his early life wasn't always particularly compelling to watch.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Young Washington sets out to show George Washington as an imperfect young man, and for the most part it achieves that… imperfectly.

Rather than presenting the future first President of the United States as some naturally gifted leader destined for greatness, the film is much more interested in the failures, mistakes and disappointments that shaped him. Washington learns from a young age that life isn't particularly fair, and the film continually knocks him down before allowing us glimpses of the man he will eventually become.

That's actually an interesting way into the story.

The problem is that while I understood what Young Washington was trying to say about its subject, I rarely found myself emotionally involved in what was happening to him.

There was something about the production from quite early on that reminded me of a made-for-TV historical movie. Some of that probably came from being unfamiliar with much of the main cast, but more importantly, many of the performances felt wooden. Characters would experience things that should have carried enormous emotional weight, yet the scenes themselves often felt strangely lifeless.

Washington signing his surrender and later mourning the death of his friend should have been moments filled with gravitas. Instead, I found myself observing what was happening rather than feeling much of anything about it.

The difference became particularly noticeable whenever one of the veteran actors appeared.

Mary-Louise Parker, playing Washington's mother Mary, seemed to simply belong in this world. She wasn't playing "a woman from the 1700s"; she felt like one. The way she carried herself, the expressions on her face and the sadness beneath the performance gave you the impression of a widow trying to keep herself and her family together after losing her husband.

Then the film would return to its main characters and suddenly feel amateurish and dull by comparison.

The same thing happened whenever actors such as Kelsey Grammer, Ben Kingsley or Andy Serkis appeared. These performers immediately commanded the screen with an authenticity that much of the film surrounding them lacked. Unfortunately, sprinkling heavyweight actors throughout the story couldn't compensate for the stretches between them.

Visually, however, I had considerably fewer complaints.

Young Washington looks great. The cinematography is handsome, the colour grade is rich and the locations do a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to transporting us back into Washington's world. Whether some of the environments were practical, digital or a mixture of both, they convinced me. There were plenty of moments where I believed I was looking at eighteenth-century America.

It's just a shame the performances and storytelling didn't always create that same level of immersion.

The structure also contributed to my wandering attention. Too often the film felt like:

This happened. Then this happened. Then this happened.

Rather than:

This happened, which caused this to happen, which led to this happening.

That might sound like a small distinction, but it made a huge difference to my experience. Events were taking place, but I didn't always feel the dramatic momentum connecting them together. I lost interest several times and found my mind wandering elsewhere.

Even the final consequential battle suffers from this problem. It looks more like a historical re-enactment than a chaotic battle. Static compositions and restrained camerawork keep us at a distance when the scene desperately needs urgency, confusion and danger.

And yet, buried within all of this is an idea I genuinely like.

Towards the end of the film, Ben Kingsley's character tells Washington:

“For most, failure is the end. It seems for you, it's only the beginning.”

That line brings the film's entire argument back into focus.

Director Jon Erwin has often been drawn towards stories involving redemption, perseverance and the triumph of the human spirit, and Young Washington fits comfortably into that territory. This isn't really a film about celebrating the Washington who became a historical icon. It's about looking at the young man who repeatedly screwed things up and asking how those failures helped create the person he eventually became.

That's the more interesting Young Washington.

I just wish the film telling his story had been as compelling as the idea behind it.

It is a beautifully presented production with an admirable desire to strip away the mythology surrounding Washington and reveal the imperfect man underneath.

The irony is that Young Washington's own imperfections prevent that story from having the impact it probably should.