George Washington

Released Sep 29, 2000

1 hr. 30 min.

Drama

List

84%

63 Reviews

Tomatometer

85%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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.

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Critics Consensus

Languid and melancholy, George Washington is a carefully observed rumination on adolescence and rural life.

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geoff r

In the top five American indie films of the last 25 years. A masterwork.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

jordan m

I liked this way more than I thought I would after seeing that this was the same director that made Halloween Kills. I've seen a fair number of movies where the goal is to portray fiction as if it was a documentary but I think this one does it best. There were a strong handful of scenes where you notice the camerawork, giving the impression that the fly on the wall found the best possible angle to watch the scenes unfold. The second-act plot twist really took me and that entire scene is surprisingly suspenseful. I did have trouble believing the plot point about the boy's life being in danger if his head got wet; I'm sure there are birth defects about the skull not hardening but I wouldn't think getting wet would harm a soft head. It would have fit the plot just as well and been more believable for them to say he couldn't go underwater lest the increased pressure kill him or something like that. Anyway, a minor knock on what really was a great movie. Kudos!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

dave s

George Washington is the moving story of children coming to terms with the harsh realities of life in a small town in North Carolina. Their hopes and dreams are shattered when one of them is killed while playing an innocent game, leaving them with a sober understanding of their fate in life. This debut by director David Gordon Green, who would go on to direct such wildly disparate films as Pineapple Express and Halloween, is a languid and meditative examination of how friends, family, and the environment shape our lives. The non-professional child actors, who do a great job, bring to light the fact that despite the seemingly insurmountable odds against them, there is always hope.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

mr. awesome m

I didn't really enjoy this movie. It was weird. There's a story to be told here, but it was painfully B rate.....missed the mark for me....... Guess I just didn't get it.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It speaks in a quiet voice volumes of ourselves and the world that we live in.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Set in North Carolina, the film follows a group of friends - George, Buddy, Vernon, and Sonya - whose lives are forever changed one tragic summer day when Buddy, while they're messing around, slips and hits his head. At first, he seems okay, but then he starts behaving erratically and bleeds from his head and ears before collapsing to the ground, dead. The friends panic and fearing that they'll get in trouble, hide his body in an abandoned warehouse. George doesn't seem to know how to react, Vernon is stricken with guilt, and Sonya seems indifferent to Buddy's death. Afterward, George becomes the town hero when he rescues a boy from drowning and goes around trying to be a superhero. However, there is much more to George Washington than just a simple plot summary. It's not just about tragedy, but also the turmoil of growing up, upbringing, the fickle nature of friendship, and much more. It's a strange and compelling film that never follows any particular structure and just likes to follow its characters around in this decaying North Carolina town. I'm okay with that, because this film is so beautifully directed, superbly performed, and so engaging that I would follow these characters to the ends of the earth. It never focuses on one emotion, but instead gives the viewer the opportunity to feel a great deal of emotions. It's a film where you not only appreciate the bigger dramatic moments, but you also come to treasure and enjoy even the smaller moments with these characters. It's one of the great films of the century.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

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David Gordon Green

Director

Candace Evanofski

Nasia

Donald Holden

George

Curtis Cotton III

Buddy

Eddie Rouse

Damascus

Paul Schneider

Rico Rice

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Scott Tobias

The Dissolve

George Washington is a mood piece first, and its triumph is in bottling up the intense feeling of early adolescence, and watching how tragedy transforms it.

Rated: 4.5/5

Mar 10, 2014

Full Review

Lisa Schwarzbaum

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B+

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

You have to bring a lot of yourself to this film if you want it to give something back, but the rewards are considerable.

Jul 18, 2007

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

As charming and endearing as it is tragic, Green started out of the gate with a masterpiece of a film that defies expectations of what defines independent cinema.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 4, 2020

Full Review

Christopher Long

Movie Metropolis

An exceptionally beautiful movie with some winning performances from a young and unproven cast,

Rated: 7/10

Mar 19, 2014

Full Review

Burl Burlingame

Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Oh, you could analyze and debate and dissect the individual vignettes to smithereens, which is what makes it literary, I 'spect. But that would be too much like homework.

Rated: 3/4

Jul 5, 2011

Full Review

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Synopsis

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
Executive Producer: Sam Froelich
Screenwriter: David Gordon Green
Distributor: Cowboy Pictures
Production Co: Y Production, Blue Moon Productions, Down Home Entertainment, Code Red, Youandwhatarmy Filmed Challenges
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 29, 2000, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 23, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $241.8K
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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