George Washington

2000

Action / Drama

6
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 85% · 62 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 85% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.2/10 10 8914 8.9K

small town north carolina coming of age summer

Plot summary

Set in the landscape of a rural southern town, "George Washington" is a stunning portrait of how a group of young kids come to grips with a hard world of choices and consequences. During an innocent game in an abandoned amusement park, a member of the group dies. Narrated by one of the children, the film follows the kids as they struggle to balance their own ambitions and relationships against a tragic lie.

Director

David Gordon Green Photo
David Gordon Green

Top cast

Will Janowitz Photo
Will Janowitz as Railroad Worker
Paul Schneider Photo
Paul Schneider as Rico Rice
Chris Kennedy Photo
Chris Kennedy as Strong Man
Candace Evanofski Photo
Candace Evanofski as Nasia
1080p.BluRay
1.24 GB
1920*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 29 min
Seeds 4

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Dr. Nick*#3 7 / 10

Beautiful boredom

Lovely, amateurish slice of the southern rural life of a small group of youngsters in a dead town one lazy summer. I can't really explain how it unfolds but it kind of reminded me of The Thin Red Line(a lesser film in my opinion), full of half-chewed, impressionistic dialogue, slow pans of life and landscape, jarring events to break the mundanity, only to melt back into the mundanity as a matter of course. The story isn't at all successful but I'd love to see what the first-time director can do with clearer, more engaging material
Reviewed by mohaas 8 / 10

A deeply confusing film

Five days after seeing *George Washington* at the Chicago International Film Festival, I still don't really know what to make of it. At times, the film is reminiscent of Terence Malick's work with the use of narration, beautifully evocative music, and mesmerizing shots of the landscape. However, the film jolts you out of the meditative state such devices usually inspire with bizarre turns in the plot and characters.[A little spoiler here, so if you don't want to know anything about the film, check out here.] *George Washington* follows four young teenagers in the deep south as they lead relatively unsupervised lives. One day, when tragedy occurs, they are forced to come to terms with an adult world they had never really thought about. This is where the film gets perplexing and, I have to admit, I'm not sure if I get it exactly. I'm sure on repeated viewings, though, there will be a lot there to find.This film is confusing, but it's confusing at its best.
Reviewed by Movie-12 8 / 10

So lively, so convincing, so extraordinarily absorbing, not to be missed by those looking for underrated movies. ***1/2 (out of four)

GEORGE WASHINTON / (2000) ***1/2 (out of four)By Blake French: "George Washington" details the drowsy lives of several preteen friends during their last summer of childhood, and it feels so accurate how the characters behave in the slumberous, low standard society. This is the summer where their first crushes arrive and flowering sexuality gives them confidence instead of confusion. It is a summer where the heat is consistent and the days seemingly last forever with nothing to do. The movie is about how a tragedy can forever change the course of individual lives so unexpectedly and abruptly. The setting is North Carolina on an industrial landscape, where we meet several black kids between the ages of ten and thirteen. The preteens are Buddy (Curtis Cotton III), who has a crush on Nasia (Candace Evanofski). She leaves him a young fellow named George (Donald Holden). George is a very interesting character; the plates in his skull did not meet correctly, so he must wear a protective helmet to cover his delicate head. George saves a child from drowning, even though his head is never supposed to get wet. He then walks around with a cape on, feeling accomplished like a hero. Then an accident happens, leaving the remaining characters with a lot to think about. There is not a lot of active conflict here, just an examination of behaviors of a variety of characters. They are not your typical characters, though; they are so brilliantly portrayed they feel like regular, ordinary people. The performances are extraordinary. The atmosphere and melancholy setting play large roles in the monotonous tone, comparable conceivably with the work of Terence Malick. There is an honest and true sentimentality here, like the director, David Gordon Greene, wanted to inject personal and thought-provoking ideas in his innovative style, which sometimes seems a bit preachy. "George Washington" is one of the most under appreciated movies of 2000. As I look over the Academy Award nominees I am disturbed. For the first time in a long time the members chose box-office successes over movie quality. Among the movies missing from the ballot are "Human Resources," "The Virgin Suicides," and "George Washington." The film is one of the year's most poignant and heartbreaking. Everything that happens here is so lively, so convincing, so extraordinarily absorbing. It is a movie not to be missed by those looking for great underrated movies.
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