George Washington

I rented this film after having conflicting experiences with two other movies by David Gordon Green, and I was interested to see some of his early work. After this, I am still conflicted. On the one hand, this film is shot with a languid beauty that belies the ugliness and bleakness of the film's setting. On the other, the children that star in this film are not great actors - in fact, I often found myself dragged out of the plot by the weakness of the acting. The script to me felt disjointed and scattered, with long, drawn-out scenes that sometimes took me too far away from the plot and message of the film. And yet, despite these flaws, I found myself rather captivated by it, and I can see why Green drew high praise from many for this effort. For me it was a noble failure, but I can see the genius that lies within it. 3/5

George Washington on Netflix