GEORGE WASHINGTON (2000)

Cast

Plot

A slow, lyrical series of vignettes, often banal, but always poetic, about life one hot summer in a decaying Deep South (North Carolina) small town for a tight-knit, predominately black, group of impoverished semi-rural children on the cusp of adolescence and responsibility. The plot, for what it matters; a child's game goes astray and one is accidentally killed, trapping the children in a lie that slowly pulls them apart. George is the handicapped (his skull hasn't fused) introspective, but inwardly intelligent, boy, whose all seeing heroic presence hovers throughout the movie. Noirishly narrated by one of the girls this is a moving, intelligent and thoughtful coming-of-age movie, beautifully filmed by Tom Orr and with great dialogue. Despite the seriousness of its subject matter 'George Washington' is a heart-warming optimistic movie about the human condition.