Happy 250th, ‘Merica, from Angel Studios, which brings us this founding father and first president origin story. We might not all be in the flag-waving mood, what with MMA on the South Lawn, war with Iran and ICE raids (though maybe that gets your patriotic fervor going), but this tells a chapter of Washington’s life you might not know, his early rise from Virginia surveyor to major of a militia detachment under British command.
The time is the 1750s, a quarter-century before Washington will take command of the rebel army on the Cambridge Common. The young patriot-to-be, played by William Franklyn-Miller with bland stiffness (perhaps requisite to the role), is tasked with a reconnaissance mission in the Ohio River Valley, where the French are busily erecting forts and laying land claims. Washington and his unprepared troops get their tricorn hats handed to them.
The French, aided by Indigenous warriors, had already adopted guerrilla tactics — shooting from the wooded hills at the red coats lined up in the meadow below waiting to engage in “proper battle.” Washington serves as an advisor to General Braddock (Andy Serkis), the British commander brought in to clean up the brink-of-war mess. Washington warns him of the new way of warfare in the New World, but Braddock’s hubris and dismissiveness ultimately spark the French and Indian War of 1754-1763, and the cocksure tactician’s own demise.
The movie is neither as jingoistic nor Christian-leaning as the family values studio’s earlier projects, “Sound of Freedom” (2023), “Cabrini” (2024) and this year’s “David.” There’s no triumphant payoff to “Young Washington.” It more illustrates the budding resolve of the man who would later cross the Delaware and become page one in United States lore. It’s interesting and informative history, but not great filmmaking — the dialogue’s stilted, the acting at times is hyperbolic and the directional timing is off.
The best line comes from Half-King Tanacharison (Ryan Begay), leader of a small band of Seneca warriors who embed with Washington for that ill-fated recon mission but refuse to re-up, telling Washington, “When you are finished killing each other we will reclaim our land.” In the mix in small parts are veteran actors Ben Kingsley (Virginia’s lieutenant governor), Mary-Louise Parker (George’s mom) and Kelsey Grammer (Lord Fairfax). As the end credits roll, Grammer, out of costume, pleads with viewers to make “Young Washington” the number one movie in America by scanning a QR code to “pay it forward” — buy a ticket so some other American can saunter in for free and learn some history adjacent to the ongoing semiquincentennial celebration. A big ask, given the new Spielberg movie, Minions and “Toy Story 5.”
For What it's Worth 