The American Revolution is the only uprising in the history of the world that was lead by the rich.

Think about that.  Here we had  bunch of self made, millionaire landowners who looked at each other and said "man, we've got it pretty good.  The only thing that could mess this gig up is the government.  Hmmm....think of how great it could be if we got rid of them and governed ourselves!!?"

"Govern ourselves?  Dude, what have you been smoking with your tobacco?"

"Calm yourself, Benedict; I'm convinced it's a Great Idea!"

George Washington must have been a man with tons of charisma.  How else could he have gotten the rag tag bunch of farmers that was the Army of the Potomac to take on England, the world's only Super Power of the time?  Not only did he convince them to follow him, but he kept them at it for seven years. 

Seven long, hard years through which the revolutionaries lost battles, lost cities, lost fortunes, farms, friends and families, you name it, they lost it but Washington held them together. 

He persevered til they prevailed.  (An unfamiliar concept, I know.)  And he did it all for the sake of an idea.  An abstract idea that had never been tried before.  An idea that no one could have known would work; they had no experience to call on, no examples to follow.  It's impossible to imagine what it must have been like.

That's why I believe that Washington must have been a man not of uncommon charisma, but of almost unheard of charisma.

So why in hell would anyone cast Jeff Daniels to play him???

I just watched The Crossing last night, which is the story of the revolution during December of 1776, leading up to the first battle victory for Washington.  The title refers to the historic attack on Trenton, when Washington lead his men across the Delaware on Christmas night to attack the Hessians who held the town, taking advantage of the Holiday revelries to catch the enemy unaware.  It's a great story and this was well written, well acted and well shot.

But Jeff Daniels?  The guy is practically a blank spot on the screen.  He didn't wreck the movie but if someone with any kind of screen presence had played Washington it would've been even better.  There are actors who have that indescribable thing about them that makes it impossible to take your eyes off them when they're on screen.  DeNiro, Duval, Hackman, Spacey, Depp, Nicholson...they've all got it.  I'm not saying any of them could play Washington, I mean come on!  Can you imagine Jack Nicholson  as George Washington?  The world would collectively wet it's pants laughing.  But I gotta believe that somewhere out there is an actor who could sell us the idea of George Washington.

And it ain't Jeff Daniels.

He was better than Toonces the Cat would've been but Laurence Fishburne, Leonardo DiCaprio and Helen Mirren, in alternating scenes...heck, in alternating shots, would all have been more convincing.

 

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