George Washington

2000 drama

Rating: 15/20

Plot: A superhero origin story.

George is a superhero, and this is his origin story. His kyrptonite apparently is a skull that isn't fully fused, poverty, and one nightmarish memory.

For whatever reason, the adventures the children in this movie share reminded me of Stand By Me. Both use a body differently, and the children in this don't go anywhere.

This was David Gordon Green's debut, and there's little here that would make me think he'd be a good choice to make the 116th sequel to Halloween. This has an independent, or maybe more accurately a student-film, vibe, the kind of project where it feels like a director is trying to find footing or a voice. With the former, it's not always clean or even coherent, and it does feel very much like a first feature-length film. Green does, however, show off an original voice and this ability to blend all sorts of moods--nostalgia for times the audience might have never experienced, comedy, pathos, tension, pain, even a little magical realism. There's an oddball assortment of characters, and they exist in this exquisite squalor.

You do have to put up with some really terrible acting and some annoying voice-over, but Green's good eye, the poetically trashy landscapes, and the fun eccentric characters make up for it.