"Young Washington" — A Biopic That Shoots Itself in the Foot with a Closing Fundraising Pitch
Directed by Jon Erwin and produced by Angel Studios, the film tries to mythologize George Washington while poisoning what could have been a nearly satisfying biopic with a donation appeal tacked onto the end credits.
No other major studio is as devoted to catering to conservative Christian and American values as Angel Studios — and no other studio believes so little that Americans actually share those values. While other producers release their films into theaters and wait for audiences to buy tickets, Angel Studios insists on ending its most jingoistic, most religious films with a last-minute fundraising appeal slapped over the closing credits.
In 'Young Washington,' directed, produced, and co-written by Jon Erwin, William Franklyn-Miller plays George Washington. He'll eventually become America's first president, but first he needs to learn some valuable lessons about leadership and kick the French in the rear end in slow motion. The title evokes John Ford's 1939 'Young Mr. Lincoln' — but Erwin is no Ford, and Franklyn-Miller is no Henry Fonda.
Setting aside all such comparisons, Franklyn-Miller is passable as the Founding Father. His boyish, puppy-dog earnestness in the early scenes gradually hardens into a grim, well-earned severity. Erwin's direction is highly competent; he paints 1750s Virginia and Ohio with vivid, varied tones. The costumes and sets are convincing too.
The cast, however, isn't as consistent as Kristopher Kimlin's cinematography. Sir Ben Kingsley spends most of the film behind a desk as the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. Kelsey Grammer is committed to moving the plot along; Andy Serkis plays Braddock as a simple blowhard. Only Angus Castle-Doughty, playing a sensible and sardonic militiaman, seems determined to steal scenes — and gets away with it in every one he's in.
'Young Washington' is such a mechanical biopic that it's hard not to focus on its small failures. Above all, its themes never cohere; the film shows no interest in history's uglier sides. Washington is motivated by the injustice of his circumstances — being unable to go to school, unable to join the British army. Yet by the film's own admission, he owns ten enslaved people. Washington's slaves never appear onscreen; the one time they're mentioned in dialogue, they're described as recipients of his family's charity.
In the 21st century, a simplistic portrait of the Founding Fathers is a hard sell. Watching a Washington who duels the French in slow motion and pulls off dysentery-riddled horseback stunts makes it impossible to take the film seriously. This corn-fed, insistent production, made for America's 250th birthday, might even do good box office; but Angel Studios has no way of knowing that, because ticket sales figures can run far higher than actual audience numbers. The dishonesty of the fundraising gambit poisons what could otherwise have been just another artificial biopic.
Source: TheWrap – William Bibbiani