William Franklyn-Miller in “Young Washington.”
Angel Studios/Wonder Project
Young Washington, Angel Studios and Wonder Project’s biopic about the formative years of America’s first president, George Washington, is new in theaters and being met with only mildly favorable reviews from Rotten Tomatoes critics.
Directed by Jon Erwin (House of David), Young Washington stars William Franklyn-Miller in the title role of the film, which examines how a single misstep thrusts the young soldier into the middle of a global conflict.
Young Washington also stars Kelsey Grammer as Lord Fairfax, Ben Kingsley as Robert Dinwiddie, Andy Serkis as General Braddock and Mary-Louise Parker as George Washington’s mother, Mary Washington.
As Friday, Young Washington has earned a 61% “fresh” critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer based on 31 reviews. RT’s Critics Consensus, Audience Summary and Popcornmeter score based on verified user ratings are still pending.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘Young Washington’?
Variety’s Owen Gleiberman is among the top critics on RT who gives the film Young a “fresh” score, writing, “Young Washington is just competent enough to create that crisp tug of schoolkid patriotism the books we read as children provided. Nothing wrong with that, as long as you’re not an adult confusing feel-good heroism with the lessons of history.”
Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com also gives Young Washington a “fresh” score. The critic writes in his RT review summary, “[It is] a well-crafted but accessible biopic about the maturation of a person who helped shape the nation’s image of itself.”
Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times also deems Young Washington “fresh” on RT, writing, “Declamatory acting, cleanly stated motivations and a few solidly staged battle sequences are the order of the day.”
James Parker of The Atlantic also gives the film a “fresh” critic score, although he has some reservations. Parker writes in his “fresh” RT review summary, “Clichés and hoary tropes abound… In one respect, though, Young Washington nails it.”
Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter is among the top critics on RT who gives the film a “rotten” score, writing, “Feeling much longer than its two hours, Young Washington suffers from the stiff, stodgy quality of so many historical dramas, especially those concerning that particular period of history.”
William Bibbiani of The Wrap isn’t a fan of Young Washington, either. Bibbiani writes in his “rotten” RT review summary, “By the time Washington is fighting the French in slow-mo gunfights, doing sick horseback stunts while sick with dysentery, any pretense that Jon Erwin’s film should be taken seriously is out the window.”
Kyle Smith of the Wall Street Journal also gives Young Washington a “rotten” score on RT, writing, “Most of the characters are flat and the portrayals stagey.”
Rated PG-13, Young Washington is new in theaters nationwide.