The Fabelmans – Review
151 Minutes, Rated PG-13
Written by Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg
Directed by Steven Spielberg
**NOTE: this post will be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth.
Well, folks, this is it. We have reached the apex of Awards Season with the release of The Fabelmans, from co-writer (with Tony Kushner) and director Steven Spielberg.
A fictionalized, yet still autobiographical, account of a young Spielberg’s early and intense infatuation with movies and the making thereof.
First, let’s get the disclaimer-y stuff out of the way: how much of this is literally ripped directly from Spielberg’s life and how much is lifted from the wider experience of Jewish Americans in the 1950s and 60s are questions for Spielberg. How much narrative “hole filling” did he and Kushner do to get to a story flow they were happy with also remains in Spielberg’s demesne.
Now, as for the movie itself, this is certainly one of Spielberg’s best. I mean, remember the quasi-controversy over Ready: Player One when he stripped most of the elements that were about him out of the movie because it felt weird to direct what was, effectively, a tribute to himself?
Let’s not forget what was supposed to be the “ultimate Spielberg film” less than a year ago in West Side Story…
We remember how that turned out, don’t we?
Here, though, finally, Spielberg feels comfortable directing a movie about himself, told through the eyes of Steven’s avatar: one Sam “Sammy” Fabelman (played very well by Gabriel LaBelle).
Spielberg doesn’t skimp on the more unsavory aspects of Sammy’s childhood, including his parent’s marital problems and the rampant anti-semitism of California in the 60s, but neither does he wallow in either of them, save for when each reaches its crescendo.
I did find the high school romance subplot with the uber-Christian girl to be a funny bit, one another director might have let role completely into, if not absurdity, then at least more slap-sticky. Spielberg handles it with just the right amount of teenage dorkiness.
I personally found the normally delightful Michelle William’s performance as Mitzi, Sammy’s mother, to be simply okay, often feeling like she was doing a poor Liza Minelli… and inconsistently, at that.
Paul Dano, though, brings his trademark thoughtfulness and near-stoic performance style to bear fully on the role of Sammy’s father, Burt. Up against the not-quite-manic performance of William’s Mitzi and the earlier inclusion of the surprisingly effective Seth Rogan as family friend Benny, Burt stands apart as the logical man in an environment of artists, but never as a man who does not love his family fully and completely, even if he can’t completely understand them.
Shot by longtime Spielberg collaborator Janusz Kaminiski, the film’s visuals fully embody what Spielberg, and all of us, love about cinema (up to and including John Ford’s advice about the horizon).
In the end, The Fabelmans is less a love letter to cinema than a love letter to Spielberg’s love of cinema. And there is a difference there, I think.
The Fabelmans will certainly be in the conversation for countless awards shortly, including yet another round of nominations (wins?) for Spielberg himself, but I think the greatest compliment I can give the film is this:
If this film had any other director’s name on it, we would be talking about The Fabelmans as a great coming-of-age story with excellent performances. Throw in the aforementioned quasi-biographical aspects of one of the greatest directors ever, and the film takes on a brighter sheen than it might have otherwise.
Add to that the fact Spielberg himself wrote and directed it while managing to balance his ego (everyone has one, even Spielberg) with his love of compelling storytelling, something other directors in the same position might struggle with, and the film finds even higher stature.
A definite must-see.
The Fabelmans hits theaters November 23 and stars Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen and Gabriel LaBelle.
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