Young Washington

In this summer film season, I cannot think of any other film to review, if one is looking for patriotism, that that of "Young Washington", especially this being July 4th. This, being a film to celebrate the 250th birthday of this great country, is one that will be or should be seen in schools to showcase the beginnings of the United States of America so as not to forget where we came from.

The year is 1755. Before he was the father of a Nation, he was a soldier fighting to survive. A single misstep thrusts young George Washington (William Franklyn Miller) into the center of a global conflict, testing his honor, loyalty and courage. As alliances crumble and the frontier erupts into war, he must confront not only his enemies but the man he's becoming. So, with his fellows soldiers including Christopher Gist (Leo Hanna), Joseph Jumonville (Clement Toyon), Tucker Bowman (Nicholas Antoniou) and others, he forges ahead with brute force and determination to see our country not fail. This is the untold story of Young Washington.

Others to round out the cast are Mia Rodgers as Sally Cary, John Foss as Lawrence Washington, George's brother, Kelsey Grammer as Lord Fairfax, Andy Serkis as General Braddock, Ben Kingsley as Robert Dinwiddie, Michael Benz as Thomas Gage, Jonno Davies as James McKay, Will Joseph as Young George, Ryan Begay as Half-King Tanacharison and Montana Hodgkinson as Chief Red Hawk.

This was directed with grit, integrity and insightfulness by Jon Erwin ("The Cross and the Towers" '06, "Alumni" (TV movie) '09, "October Baby" '11, "Fully Alive" '12, "Mom's Night Out" (as The Erwin Brothers) '14, "Woodlawn" '15, "Steve McQueen: American Icon" ((co-directed) '17, "I Can Only Imagine" '18, "I Still Believe" '20, "American Underdog" (as The Erwin Brothers) '21, "The Jesus Music" '21, "Jesus Revolution" '23) plus TV, videos and a music video. This was brilliantly well structured, sequenced and staged with perfection. Of course, with this filmmaker having the extensive resume that he has, Erwin was able to delineate the different aspects of this soldier in his earlier years. It was equally penned well by writers Jon Erwin, Tom Provost and Diederik Hoogstraten. This was well thought out and was definitely concise. Obviously Erwin has the lion's share of the experience here, however the other writers certainly were strategic with their respective input. The writing simply kept me riveted and some aspects of the film I either didn't remember or really did not know. 

One thing that England didn't understand back in the mid 1700s was that they were servants of the people, not the other way around--sound familiar today? This is a country for the people, by the people--not the government. This country can learn from this film, lest we lose our freedoms one by one. This film should be shown in schools including colleges, and recommend this highly!

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                         Rated: PG-13                                      121mins.