STORYLINE: A young George Washington faces war, betrayal, and impossible choices that will forge a leader. (IMDb)

    2013’s The Butler spanned multiple presidencies, while Lincoln (2012) focused on one specific event in President Lincoln’s term as President.  Oliver Stone’s JFK was a conspiracy film thriller.  This past Fourth of July weekend, Young Washington, marched into theaters. 

    Not all motion pictures about presidents, are about their time in office.  South side With You (2016) is a love story of sorts, as the film is on the first date between Barack and Michelle Obama.  Young Washington is about George Washington, as he finds his voice as a military leader. 

     The film starts with a child George Washington, and the genesis of his ambition to be a military officer. The film fast forwards to when the future president is a young man, and shows his struggles to become an officer.  Once in position, it shows his ups and downs in the role.

     The setup for Young Washington to be something truly epic, in the vein of Barry Lyndon (1975, the gold standard of historical epics) is their, the execution is not.  

    The film only hits bulletin points, instead of going into any kind of depth, into its central character, or with its story.   In a film about a military leader, the sequences showing his military leadership were sparse, and underwhelming.  In what seemed like was an attempt at an epic feature, did not feature the epic film shots, such as scenic wide shots, often seen in such movies. I should not be surprised

 from a motion picture coming from Angel Studios. 

     I do appreciate that studio is purring their religious content, which I found to be condescending, on the back burner for more, potentially, interesting content.  What I do like, is the studio puts puts their movies in theaters.

    Young Washington is a snapshot of George Washington before he becomes president. It had the potential of being more than it was, but did not live up to that potential.

    Until next time, I will see you at the movies!