Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Gabriel Labelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Mateo Francis Deford, Judd Hirsch, David Lynch
Steven Spielberg's autobiographical The Fabelmans, like its hero Sammy Fabelman (played as an eight-year-old by Mateo Deford and as teenager by Gabriel Labelle), straddles the line between art and family in a funny, heartbreaking, and human way. The Fabelmans are a family we grow to care about. Spielberg continues his mastery of the craft of filmmaking by telling a story of sometimes brutal honesty which must hurt him to his core. With that being said, it does drag in spots, taking on a "you had to be there" quality which removes a half-star from the rating, but The Fabelmans is still very good.
The Fabelmans begins in Ohio, where patriarch Burt (Dano) is a scientist and engineer with big ideas that could change the world. He shows love to his family tentatively and awkwardly, while matriarch Mitzi (Williams) gives her affection expansively and passionately, but we sense she may be battling her own demons. Also part of the family is Benny (Rogen), Burt's best friend and co-worker who plays the part of the fun uncle who is always ready with a joke. As time progresses, Benny's role in the family becomes clearer and hastens its demise. In the middle of it all is Sammy, who watches The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and becomes hooked on movies. He receives a camera and learns how to not only shoot footage, but edit and craft a narrative.
As a teenager, Sammy and his family move to Arizona and then California as Burt's career escalates. Sammy shoots classroom project films with this friends, showcasing a filmmaking knowledge far beyond his years and experience. It is here Sammy's love of filmmaking grows from a hobby to a passion he will never relinquish. His passion is furthered along by a visit from Uncle Boris (Hirsch), who stays at the house and one night and tells Sammy a story detailing a choice he once had between his art (he was once a circus performer) and his family. Hirsch handles the scene masterfully, providing Sammy with a scenario he will one day (and many more times) have to face himself. A later meeting chance meeting with his curmudgeonly idol John Ford (Lynch) solidifies his aim to become a movie director. The rest belongs to cinema history.
The Fabelmans is naturally about Spielberg's own family, but it could stand on its own as an absorbing family drama even if it had nothing to do with him. The characters are lovingly and clearly drawn and acted, occupying most scenes with quiet power. Working with his usual crew of superior artists like cinematographer Janusz Kaminski and a powerful score by the now ninety-year-old master John Williams, The Fabelmans shows us conflicts which hurt and feel so real, because in many cases, they were.
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