Young Washington
Recommended. Age: 13+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
A sincere, old-fashioned portrait of a young man learning that leadership is service. Washington starts out hungry for rank and a girl above his station. Defeat teaches him humility, and his mother's trust in Providence becomes his own. Prayer and courage carry the story without preaching. The honest reservation is the war: musket deaths, bloody wounds and a man hatcheted to death off camera.
For parents
For teens 13 and up, and a fine history night for a family with teens. Preview the battles if your teen is sensitive. The film shows slavery plainly, and Native and French characters get thin treatment. Ask: how did Washington's failures make him a better man? Where did he see God's hand?