Chicago – Before “Snow Angels”, “Prince Avalanche”, or even “The Sitter”, director David Gordon Green flexed his film school muscles in his unabashed inauguration, “George Washington”. Eying its body, the 2000 film shares qualities other first-timers huff when trying to be taken seriously by the arthouse crowd. Especially with the films that were assuredly motivated by Green’s work like 2012’s “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, “George Washington” celebrates storytelling instruments like whimsical young voiceover, shots that are equally distinct & questionable, and the raw potential of non-actors.

With crime becoming a famous trend for first-time directors hungry for authorship, (Tarantino, Anderson, R. Johnson, Malle, and Godard among others), Green chose the other option, to make an obscure film where the story is background to a thickly atmospheric foreground. (Oddly enough, Malick did both).

Rating: 4.5/5.0

But what makes “George Washington” more exceptional than its comparisons is its soul, which can be seen past...