November 27, 2022
FILM: THE FABELMANS
DIRECTED BY: STEVEN SPIELBERG
STARRING: MICHELLE WILLIAMS, GABRIEL LABELLE, PAUL DANO
RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 STARS
By Dan Pal
The promotional talk has been that this is the film we’ve been waiting for Steven Spielberg to make. That assumes you feel his WW2 epics Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan are of sub-par quality or that his family oriented/sci-fi films, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.- The Extraterrestrial, are not quite at the level success that they could be. (Not to mention Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Color Purple, etc.) So were we really counting on a Spielberg family story? That is, in effect, what The Fabelmans is. Yes, it does address, in fictionalized form, his foray into filmmaking based on his having seen the Oscar-winning The Greatest Show on Earth when he was six years old. The film terrorized him yet also jump started his own production of movies that often served as therapy for him to get over his own anxieties. However, this film covers much more ground than that. Too much, perhaps.
For one, The Fabelmans explores Spielberg’s unstable, piano playing mother, played here by Michelle Williams, who has a secret relationship with his father’s (Paul Dano) best friend (Seth Rogen.) This would have a big impact on Spielberg, or Sam Fabelman as he is portrayed here. The film also depicts the sudden arrival of Sam’s great uncle Boris (Judd Hirsch) and his strongly pontificated advice to Sam in a few brief scenes. We’re also taken into some very funny moments with Sam’s Jesus-loving girlfriend and then darker scenes when Sam experiences antisemitism while in high school. Hence, during the film’s nearly two and a half hour run, Spielberg manages to re-create a series of episodes from his young life, with a number of tonal shifts, well before he begins his serious filmmaking career. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it does make the film feel a bit lacking in terms of coherent thematic structure. So much of what is depicted feels like a series of episodes that come and go from Sam’s life. It’s as if Spielberg said: “these are the periods and people that had an impact on my life growing up” without trying to form a narrative with a focused mission. None of this is to say that the film isn’t entertaining, for it surely is. There are a number of very funny and moving scenes spread throughout the film. Between the Jesus-loving girlfriend and the difficulties in the parents’ marriage, the tone does shift a bit much though. Is this a drama? Comedy? Well, it’s a memoir of sorts that features the various sadness and joys of life.
The film works best when it stays focused on Sam’s interest in filmmaking and subsequently how these scenes would influence Spielberg’s own movies. We see him create early versions of a film in which girls screams while in a closet (aka, E.T.- the Extraterrestrial) and another in which he stages a WW2 battle (aka, Saving Private Ryan.) Less successful are the scenes featuring young Sam being bullied for being Jewish while in high school. This brings antisemitism in as yet another problem in Sam’s young life. While these scenes may have sincerely happened to Spielberg they seem to come out of nowhere late in the film. Similarly, when Sam makes a movie about senior ditch day, one of Sam’s classmates is bothered by how Sam depicts him as a hero. The boy’s reaction is confusingly explained and seems far removed from other parts of the film.
The performances are generally fine with Michelle Williams being the stand-out. She can play the eccentric, self-obsessed mother and then subtly take us into the sadness and emotional disturbance that the character feels inside. Judd Hirsch has a couple of scene-stealing moments as great Uncle Boris. His speeches are intense and passionately delivered (suggesting an Oscar nomination is sure to come.) Paul Dano initially comes across as a 1950’s television sitcom dad but then eventually becomes a much deeper and well-rounded character. The period is beautifully depicted via the art direction with cars, costumes, and furnishings very much in tune with the 1950s and 60s.
Overall, I think Spielberg may have been trying to cover a bit much here. Yes, the dialogue and performances are quite good but the film could have used more focus and it needed to make more chances to truly standout in a year when other films are doing some things that are quite daring (Triangle of Sadness, Tar, The Banshees of Inishirin.) This feels like a Spielberg family film, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it doesn’t break any new ground.
The Fabelmans is currently playing in theaters.
FILM: THE FABELMANS
DIRECTED BY: STEVEN SPIELBERG
STARRING: MICHELLE WILLIAMS, GABRIEL LABELLE, PAUL DANO
RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 STARS
By Dan Pal
The promotional talk has been that this is the film we’ve been waiting for Steven Spielberg to make. That assumes you feel his WW2 epics Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan are of sub-par quality or that his family oriented/sci-fi films, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.- The Extraterrestrial, are not quite at the level success that they could be. (Not to mention Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Color Purple, etc.) So were we really counting on a Spielberg family story? That is, in effect, what The Fabelmans is. Yes, it does address, in fictionalized form, his foray into filmmaking based on his having seen the Oscar-winning The Greatest Show on Earth when he was six years old. The film terrorized him yet also jump started his own production of movies that often served as therapy for him to get over his own anxieties. However, this film covers much more ground than that. Too much, perhaps.
For one, The Fabelmans explores Spielberg’s unstable, piano playing mother, played here by Michelle Williams, who has a secret relationship with his father’s (Paul Dano) best friend (Seth Rogen.) This would have a big impact on Spielberg, or Sam Fabelman as he is portrayed here. The film also depicts the sudden arrival of Sam’s great uncle Boris (Judd Hirsch) and his strongly pontificated advice to Sam in a few brief scenes. We’re also taken into some very funny moments with Sam’s Jesus-loving girlfriend and then darker scenes when Sam experiences antisemitism while in high school. Hence, during the film’s nearly two and a half hour run, Spielberg manages to re-create a series of episodes from his young life, with a number of tonal shifts, well before he begins his serious filmmaking career. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it does make the film feel a bit lacking in terms of coherent thematic structure. So much of what is depicted feels like a series of episodes that come and go from Sam’s life. It’s as if Spielberg said: “these are the periods and people that had an impact on my life growing up” without trying to form a narrative with a focused mission. None of this is to say that the film isn’t entertaining, for it surely is. There are a number of very funny and moving scenes spread throughout the film. Between the Jesus-loving girlfriend and the difficulties in the parents’ marriage, the tone does shift a bit much though. Is this a drama? Comedy? Well, it’s a memoir of sorts that features the various sadness and joys of life.
The film works best when it stays focused on Sam’s interest in filmmaking and subsequently how these scenes would influence Spielberg’s own movies. We see him create early versions of a film in which girls screams while in a closet (aka, E.T.- the Extraterrestrial) and another in which he stages a WW2 battle (aka, Saving Private Ryan.) Less successful are the scenes featuring young Sam being bullied for being Jewish while in high school. This brings antisemitism in as yet another problem in Sam’s young life. While these scenes may have sincerely happened to Spielberg they seem to come out of nowhere late in the film. Similarly, when Sam makes a movie about senior ditch day, one of Sam’s classmates is bothered by how Sam depicts him as a hero. The boy’s reaction is confusingly explained and seems far removed from other parts of the film.
The performances are generally fine with Michelle Williams being the stand-out. She can play the eccentric, self-obsessed mother and then subtly take us into the sadness and emotional disturbance that the character feels inside. Judd Hirsch has a couple of scene-stealing moments as great Uncle Boris. His speeches are intense and passionately delivered (suggesting an Oscar nomination is sure to come.) Paul Dano initially comes across as a 1950’s television sitcom dad but then eventually becomes a much deeper and well-rounded character. The period is beautifully depicted via the art direction with cars, costumes, and furnishings very much in tune with the 1950s and 60s.
Overall, I think Spielberg may have been trying to cover a bit much here. Yes, the dialogue and performances are quite good but the film could have used more focus and it needed to make more chances to truly standout in a year when other films are doing some things that are quite daring (Triangle of Sadness, Tar, The Banshees of Inishirin.) This feels like a Spielberg family film, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it doesn’t break any new ground.
The Fabelmans is currently playing in theaters.