A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Fabelmans” (2023).
Of all the films of this awards season, “The Fabelmans” is the one I was most looking forward to. And although I have one or two minor quibbles, it really is a magical piece of Spielberg.
Note: there is a lovely prologue to the film, featuring Stephen Spielberg himself, but you will ONLY get to see this if you go and see the film in the cinema… not if you wait for it on streaming!
Bob the Movie Man Rating(s):
Plot Summary:
It’s 1952 and young Sammy Fabelman (Mateo Zoryanis) is introduced to a cinema showing of “The Greatest Show on Earth” by his parents Burt (Paul Dano) and Mitzi (Michelle Williams). His life is changed forever and he picks up his Dad’s movie camera. The parents couldn’t be less alike in many ways: Burt is an engineer in the crucible of computer science, scientific and logical; Mitzi is a musician, full of right-brain creativity with a Bohemian carefree attitude to life. The family move to Phoenix with Burt’s work, together with Burt’s colleague and best friend ‘Uncle’ Bennie Loewy (Seth Rogen) in tow. Life seems pretty good for the teenage Sammy (now Gabriel LaBelle) as he learns his film-making craft with his friends in the desert. But life throws a curved ball, and Sammy’s future career is put in jeopardy.
Certification:
UK: 12; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC: “Racism, brief moderate violence, drug misuse, infrequent strong language.”). I thought for most of this that it would be a good watch for pre-12’s, but some of the high school bullying and anti-semitism is quite strong: discretion advised.
Talent:
Starring: Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Gabriel LaBelle, Seth Rogen, Judd Hirsch.
Directed by: Stephen Spielberg.
Written by: Stephen Spielberg and Tony Kushner.
Twitter Handles: #thefabelmans.
Trouble in paradise. Burt and Mitzi Fabelman (Paul Dano and Michelle Williams) with ‘family friend’ Bennie (Seth Rogen). (Source: Amblin Entertainment).
“The Fabelmans” Review:
Positives:
- Stephen Spielberg doesn’t make ‘bad’ films. There’s nearly always something you can pull out of a poor Spielberg film. (Even in “1941” you could appreciate the ambition!) With one exception, I’ve been pretty consistent in rating his films since starting this blog – “West Side Story” (4*), “Ready Player One” (4*), “The Post” (4*), “The BFG” (2.5*) and “Bridge of Spies” (4.5*). But they’ve never quite encapsulated for me the 5* “Spielberg magic” from some of his classic offerings. That changed for me here. The magic is back! There’s real movie-making craftsmanship involved here, with some of the camera blocking being just immaculate.
- This is clearly Spielberg’s most personal movie, based as it is on autobiographical material. And the performers clearly appreciate that, delivering pitch-perfect scenes with emotional heft. Michelle Williams has a challenge in filling the shoes of the firebrand free-spirit Mitzi. But I thought she did it very well, and is Oscar-nominated for her efforts. One of my favourite actors, Paul Dano, gets to play a fairly straight role (not The Riddler!) and is quietly wonderful. And Gabriel LaBelle, clearly cast since he looks the spitting image of a young Spielberg, is not just about the look, but really holds his own in the acting stakes. The surprise for me is Judd Hirsch getting an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Yes, it’s an impressive performance. But I thought it was only a gentle upgrade from his over-the-top Jewish father in “Independance Day” and his limited screen-time must be pretty close to that of Dame Judi Dench in “Shakespeare in Love”!
- I thought the cinematography by Janusz Kaminski was superb. I was surprised that this wasn’t nominated for the Oscar.
- The final scene – a meeting between Spielberg and his film-directing hero (a nice cameo by director David Lynch) – was wonderful. And, amazingly, fully reflects Spielberg’s experience in real-life. Although I knew about the incident, I thought the film was taking some artistic licence with the details of the meeting. But no! This discussion between Spielberg, Jon Favreau and Ron Howard reveal that even the bizarre lipstick addition was accurate. The humour in the final shot of the film is perfect!
- Lovely music by the maestro John Williams, getting his record-breaking 53rd Academy Award nomination. But – unless I wasn’t concentrating – there didn’t seem to be enough of it to merit an Academy Award nomination.
Negatives:
- Where I thought the movie really came alive was in following Sammy’s movie-making efforts. (If you’ve watched the fabulous documentary “Spielberg” – which is currently streaming on Now TV or for rent on Amazon – then you’ll recognize some of the tips and tricks he employs). As such, I’d have preferred if this aspect of the story was the main ‘plot’, with the emotional family issues being a smaller, but still important, sub-plot running in the background.
- Following on from this, we never actually finished Sam’s journey. I’d certainly go to see a “Fabelmans 2” where Sam blags his way into Universal Studio (Spielberg has possibly embellished the story of taking over an empty office and putting his name on the door!) before getting his early breaks in TV production, filming “Duel” and “The Sugarland Express” and then having the drama of making that film about a shark (that isn’t really about the shark!).
- Given how closely the story matches to Spielberg’s life story, I’m not sure why he didn’t go all in and call it “The Spielbergs”.
Summary Thoughts on “The Fabelmans”
This is a really enjoyable Spielberg semi-autobiographical film. “Semi-autobiographical” since most of it is apparently true (see the Spoiler section below). I um’d and ah’d about given this 5 stars, since I was ever so slightly disappointed by it. However, I think my expectations were pitched higher on this one than any director could have accomplished! So it seems churlish to not give it maximum points. It’s one I certainly want to see and savour again.
Highly recommended. But go and see it on the big screen!
Trailer for “The Fabelmans”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1G2iLSzOe8 . Love this trailer! So intoxicating.
Spoiler Section
Don’t proceed if you haven’t seen the film! The following has mild spoilers.
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The following TRUE/FALSE facts are presented in this article in The Times. Follow the link to see the background behind each statement.
- In the film Spielberg’s mother has an affair with his father’s best friend, which Steven learns about from his own footage – TRUE
- On the camping trip Spielberg filmed his mother dancing, lit by the car’s headlights – TRUE
- Spielberg suffered serious antisemitic abuse at school – TRUE
- One of his most ardent bullies cried after Spielberg made a mocking film about him = FALSE
- Spielberg blamed his father for the divorce . . . – TRUE
- . . . yet his mother didn’t escape scot-free – TRUE
- As a teenager Steven had a devoutly Christian girlfriend – PROBABLY FALSE
- While still at school Spielberg directed an impressively accomplished war film – TRUE
- Living in the only house on the street without Christmas lights embarrassed Spielberg – TRUE
- The young Spielberg met the great director John Ford – TRUE
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