The Fabelmans

It's watching Steven Spielberg grow up from a child terrified by the train crash in THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, to an adolescent film maker. He's pretty up front about the family issues and his parents' break up. I suspect he has realized that being an adult is a tough thing and is willing to forgive.

At 150 minutes, it should feel self indulgent, but it never does, thanks to a terrific performance by Michelle Williams as the mother and Paul Dano as the father. No one seems to be acting, which is half the Spielberg magic. There are also great cameos by Judd Hirsch as the profane uncle who was a lion tamer, and David Lynch as John Ford.

Some of the characters seem sketchily drawn, particularly the sisters, but that serves to emphasize Miss Williams, Dano, and Gabriel LaBelle as the Steven Spielberg character. Is she t that Spielberg and his frequent collaborator Tony Kühner, have drawn a fine portrait of a Jewish post-war family, when things were supposed to be so very bland... but really, people were living their lives.

After 50 years of making movies, Steven Spielberg is still, in the 2020s, finding new muscles to work. His semi-autobiopic, The Fabelmans, is different in style, reach, and aim, than anything Spielberg has ever made. The consummate ringmaster has never helmed a film so modest. And for a director whose personal attachments are spread all over his filmography, The Fabelmans may also be his most intimate.

The story of Sam Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle) is the story of Steven Spielberg, Jewish kid from Small Town USA, lover and later maker of movies. Sam shares with Steven three younger sisters, an eccentric concert pianist mother, an electrical engineer father, and a nearly identical path to movie directing. The names might be different, but obviously The Fabelmans is a dramatization of Steven Spielberg's childhood. It's certainly not our first indication of what the director thinks of such things as his parents' divorce, his interpersonal relationships with his family, or the images, moments, and memories that inspired him to make movies. Spielberg has brilliantly disguised these themes within his genre films; in alien invasion movies, dinosaur pictures, science fiction noirs, and family fantasy adventures. But with The Fabelmans, here comes the full reveal. It is a movie directly about family. His family. One must assume The Fabelmans is Steven Spielberg's last word on the subjects that have bewitched him throughout his career.

The Fabelmans is kitchen sink drama all the way; no bells, no whistles, no magic realism or distracting style. In other words, no distance from these characters. The ones we have here are all quite well-realized. Paul Dano as Burt, the Fableman patriarch, is a sweetheart; surprisingly real despite an affected subservient speech pattern. Dano's character could have been an embarrassing caricature of the "no fun, get a job" father, but he comes out well-intentioned and completely three dimensional in a thankless role. Michelle Williams has the showier job playing mother Mitzy. She doesn't fumble the challenge, and in fact carves out a memorable personality from the more artistically inclined of Sam's parents. In the middle is Gabriel LaBelle, the latest model of the square-jawed, brown-eyed, young male muse that Spielberg has been searching for for decades now. Like Ansel Elgort, Tye Sheridan, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeremy Irvine, and Shia LaBeouf before him (the man has a type), he's good enough. LaBelle is a likeable personality, a truly important metric for a performance like this, and he anchors the film admirably. Will it be that elusive star-making performance Spielberg has clearly been wanting from one of his young proteges? No. But it's a nice one.

A few supporting players stop in for extended cameos. Judd Hirsh's quick turn as Uncle Boris may very well earn him an Oscar nomination. Hirsch has the classic showpiece monologue-two of them to be exact-and the sort of built-up respect needed for such a role. Young Chloe East on the other hand is a real discovery as Sam's high school girlfriend. Just when the movie needs a little energy, she comes in with the good stuff. Her's is a bright and living performance that never feels put on. Seth Rogan is there as well. A risky, maybe inspired casting choice, he's not bad.

The Fabelmans is practically structureless, even at times aimless. There is no agreed-upon thesis that the movie is working toward, nor is there a feeling Spielberg is coaxing us into experiencing. As a cinematic project, it does not play to its director's strengths whatsoever. But we've seen the resiliency of Steven Spielberg before. Desert animal he truly is; able to adapt to changing landscapes and external challenges. By his standards, this is a tiny movie. Not the first quiet, artistic coming-of-age movie (in one of the movie's few missteps, it trots out a clichéd bullying subplot that drags the quality of the production way down), but in experienced, versatile hands, one of the very best.

The Fabelmans certainly won't blow the doors off the box office, and for many, its sincere love for the craft of filmmaking will go completely unregistered. That narrow appeal, however, is precisely why The Fabelmans is destined to become a very special movie for people like me. I had my own 'Greatest Show on Earth' experience at six years old, when I saw Sam Raimi's Spider-man in one of the great big theaters where my aunt lived. Later, after I had discovered more of my favorites, developed a taste for the movies, I made my own. My cousins starred in one Jurassic Park rip-off as a team of scientists pursued by dragons in Shanghai. I became a film snob in college, and made short films with the guiding help of a professor who thought I had potential. I got a job as a documentarian and later directed a commercial or two of my own. All the while, I had my own family, who happen to be a lot like The Fabelmans, there to support and sometimes to trivialize, but whom I love with everything I have. Oh, it is sappy to talk about how personal The Fabelmans feels to me. I'm sure mine will not be the only review emphasizing how relatable this film is to someone with the artistic itch. But I assume I'm much like Sam Fabelman, and Steven Spielberg too, when I say that movies are my therapy. Our careers may never compare, but at least we'll share that.

Mazal Tov.

87/100.

Steven Spielberg made some of the best movies ever made. Now he made one about his early life, his way of becoming a filmmaker. And this is not his best film and not his most important one, but his most personal one.

The story is fascinating, especially the way filmmaking is portrayed here is extraordinary. This is a love letter to cinema and you will be moved watching it, if you are a cineast like me.

Everybody who's dreaming about becoming a filmmaker some day has to watch this picture. It was made for you, by Mr. Spielberg with love and the hope of inspiring the next generation as he was inspired by directors from his time.

The Fabelmans is both a coming-of-age story and a love letter to filmmaking; calling this movie a labor of love is an understatement. The Fabelman is Spielberg's most personal film ever as he shared how he developed his passion for filmmaking while demonstrating the power of escapism the movies brought to his life. Steven Spielberg understands that love for art is not just a hobby but also an expression of one's self and exploration of humankind. Steven Spielberg was able to articulate himself in a very raw yet profound way with his film, The Fabelmans. It is good to see him tell the story of his life while recognizing that his family is far from perfect and how a young man deals with one family crisis and overcoming it through the power of filmmaking. If you share the same love for film, like everyone here, you would certainly appreciate this movie. But, the movie is far from perfect as most of Spielberg's films.

The movie focuses on Sammy, played wonderfully by Gabriel LaBelle, which sometimes comes off as a bit pretentious as a character. But, Gabriel LaBelle was great in this movie that he showed the emotional depth of the character, and his fascination with filmmaking translates to the audience. Gabriel LaBelle must have felt extreme pressure while playing this character, considering that he's playing one of the best filmmakers of all time, but he was able to give justice to the character at no fault. However, it was Michelle Williams that stood out in this film---to say her performance is phenomenal is diminishing---she was terrific and captivating as Mitzi, a free-spirited mother with an extreme love for art. Paul Dano was great in this film, as well as Seth Rogen. Also, Judd Hirsch is for sure a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination, only in the movie for less than 10 minutes, but his character is pivotal for Sammy's growth.

During the third act of the film, it kinda lost its footing, the movie became dragging, cliche, and pretentious. But, The Fabelmans is far from Spielberg's best work, like Schindler's List or ET, but the movie works as a coming-of-age story that delivers more of the director's insights. The Fabelmans is a charming and poignant anecdote about life glimpsed through the camera and how those occasions shaped one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Although the movie is predictable and does not come with surprises. The Fabelmans still works without depending on glitzy special effects, an excessive amount of violence, or shock value, but because of its great direction, performances, sincerity, and authenticity from the writing perspective, it resulted in The Fabelmans being one of this year's best films. We can see that it's personal, but it feels like the movie is made for us as well.

This semi-autobiographical film centres around Sammy Fabelman who is transfixed by the first movie he sees at age 6 and develops a passion for film making. Other themes explored with variable depth and success include the fracturing marriage of his parents, bullying and anti-semitism at high school, young love and coming of age, and selfishness in general.

The movie is way too long and felt a little boring in the first 45minutes. It's nicely shot and well directed as you would expect, but the script is patchy and while the acting is generally excellent, the performances of Paul Dano and in particular Michelle Williams as Sammy's parents felt too affected and a little contrived - at times I felt I was watching filming on the set of a TV sitcom. I wonder still if this was deliberately instructed by Spielberg, but for me it doesn't work.

Gabriel Labelle is the best as the teenage Sammy and Judd Hirsch is superb in a cameo as Uncle Boris. John Williams as always provides a perfect score and the visuals are superb.

Overall it's worth seeing for a little insight into Spielberg's childhood but there is an unsatisfactory feel to the film as a whole. I think it could have been so much better.