George Washington

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Alright, now I am beginning to understand all this affection for David Gordon Green. This is a great movie.

A few years back I saw Green's Undertow, and was underwhelmed. It started off good, but somewhere in the middle it began meandering, and then slowly worked its way to a stunningly ineffectual and cliched ending. Since then, I've become more familiar with Terrence Mallick, and I think I read somewhere that he was a big influence on Undertow, so maybe if I see it again I'll have a newfound appreciation. But I disliked it enough that I steered clear of Green for the past few years.

Until I found out he was directing Pineapple Express, which is possibly my #1 most eagerly anticipated film of the year. So I figured it was high time (pun retroactively intended) to give the dude another shot, and I'm glad I did.

It's kinda like that movie Mean Creek (starring Josh Peck, who I am convinced should be the next big thing) that came out a few years back, only way better. I remember thinking that Mean Creek was a pretty honest movie about being a teenager that totally spins off the rails in the last act after a major twist in the plot, after which it stops feeling realistic and instead feels contrived and melodramatic. George Washington is an even more honest movie about being a teenager that has, more or less, the same "twist" but handles it so much better. Even though the behavior of the characters in GW is more extreme, and perhaps less "realistic," it's told with much more emotional honesty. Also, it came first so now I'm left wondering if Mean Creek is kind of a ripoff.

This is a sad story, but told with a lot of humor and humanity and insight, so it never really drags you down. This could have been a depressing slog through dark material (and don't get me wrong, that's not necesarily a bad thing), but instead it really gives you a charge. And I got to give it credit for one other thing: superficially, it almost seems like it could be another insufferable indie quirkfest, but it's not. It's its own thing, a funny, poetic meditation on youth, and the fragile nature of life. Love it.