Young Washington Draws Stodgy Review in 2-Hour Biopic of George Washington
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 2
Young Washington Draws Stodgy Review in 2-Hour Biopic of George Washington
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 2
Summary
The 2-hour-5-minute film is faulted for “old-fashioned stodginess,” with declamatory acting and plainly stated motivations outweighing personality, humor and period texture.
Jon Erwin’s PG-13 biopic follows Washington in the mid-1750s, from a mission in the Ohio Country to service under Gen. Edward Braddock at the Battle of the Monongahela.
William Franklyn-Miller plays a dutiful, ambitious young Washington opposite Mary-Louise Parker, Kelsey Grammer, Ben Kingsley and Andy Serkis, but the portrayal is described as blandly upright.
Angel Studios closes the film with Grammer, out of character, urging viewers to make it the No. 1 box-office movie, a pitch the review says reveals the filmmakers’ own ambition more than Washington’s.