The Fabelmans (2022)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
Steven Spielberg delivers yet another tender, heartfelt ode to the love of cinema, imagination, and the pursuit of dreams.
Gorgeously shot and narratively forthcoming in a telling screenplay by Spielberg and Tony Kushner and visionary cinematographer Janusz Kaminski.
One of 2022’s best films, with a truly remarkable ensemble of performances to witness and experience.
NO
Detractors of The Fabelmans have dismissed the film as pretentious and self-absorbed, as Spielberg is, at least in part, directing a cinematic memoir.
As much as anything the film is a domestic drama, a departure of sorts for Spielberg and a film which may leave some people expecting a lot more.
As someone who loves the film, even I can acknowledge that the film is prime-positioned for Oscar and awards season glory. Some will find that disingenuous. To each their own I guess.
OUR REVIEW
When one of the greatest directors of all time wants to reflect back on the experiences that raised him and built the foundation for his filmmaking career, you ought to pay attention. With his deeply personal and poignant new film, The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg lays himself bare.
75 years young, the Oscar-winning filmmaker risks claims of self-indulgence by telling stories and sharing experiences of his life within the Fabelman family, a 1950s nuclear family in New Jersey. Jewish, their middle-class existence is supported through Burt (Paul Dano), a technology whiz and scientist. Mitzi (Michelle Williams) is a dedicated homemaker, while Burt’s love of shooting home movies inspires Sam (Gabriel LaBelle) to begin exploring the medium as a teenager.
The seeds of filmmaking dazzle an 8-year-old Sammy (played as a young boy by Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord), as the family watches The Greatest Show on Earth. The year is 1952. The director is Cecil B. DeMille. The world looks infinite on the big screen.
Spielberg’s affinity for movies could have driven the narrative, but he doubles back onto his family, exploring, in a densely layered and engrossing screenplay co-written with Tony Kushner, the struggles, successes and messy moments that he has the hindsight of seeing as formative and necessary.
As Mitzi and Burt work to keep the family together, ‘Uncle’ Benny (Seth Rogen) is a constant presence. Burt’s best friend and co-worker is essentially a part of the family, offering levity and light-heartedness when Burt is serious and lacks spontaneity. Mitzi is a stifled creative; a singer and piano player, who occasionally lands a local gig. Obsessed with what the camera can capture and what stories he can tell, Sam spins off into a creative world that his sisters Reggie (Julia Butters) and Natalie (Keeley Karsten) admire and eventually find a way to use for their own benefits.
Though Spielberg is resurrecting life experiences, The Fabelmans never feels elegaic, somber, or definitive. As Sammy grows up and begins making short films with his friends, the director is bringing us into the wonder and excitement of filmmaking. Though the film is dramatic in tone, he still carries a sense of wonder and exploration here, shooting Sammy’s behind-the-scenes filmmaking moments with a zeal and appreciation that is heartwarming and endearing.
Eventually, the film’s dramatic beats harden and a development involving Sammy and Mitzi hits really stiff and bruising, one of Spielberg’s most compelling scenes of recent memory. The movie reaches an inflection point, everything after that scene feels different. Innocence is lost. And for Sam, the world becomes a confusing and unfriendly place sometimes.
LaBelle gives a performance that only gets better the more he settles into the role. His maturation on screen matches that of Sammy’s growth and the film benefits greatly from his impressive performance. Dano is wonderful as the stoic, kind, but emotionally distant father, with Williams tightroping a varying array of emotions. Mitzi is lost, trying to rectify some shaky mental health and emotional strength. Her attraction to fun and laughs and carefree moments provides her an outlet for escape.
Spielberg has the hindsight of adulthood and his own struggles, successes, and disappointments to contextualize his storytelling. A friend and peer of mine told me The Fabelmans is, in their mind, the worst movie of the year because if they wanted to watch a famous person whine about a few problems in an otherwise privileged life, they’d watch a documentary.
It’s an interesting take, because this is a movie that, for me, seemingly transcends the insular, selfishness that some may anticipate and instead finds a way to make the love of film, family, and finding oneself a universal theme most all of us can relate to.
The movie soars on the emotional, moving score composed by John Williams, one of the final scores the 90-year-old legend will produce. Spielberg’s long-time cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, gauzes the moments of Sammy’s youth as a memory and utilizes distance to striking impact. Kaminski is also playing loose and carefree with how he deploys his camera, seemingly learning all over again the joy one finds in what a camera can discover, reveal, and bring into focus.
With strong performances from all involved, including wonderful cameos from Judd Hirsch and David Lynch, The Fabelmans is a film which finds Spielberg proudly and unashamedly wearing his heart on his sleeve. His Fabelman family, be they stand-ins for his childhood household or inspired by moments from his youth, balances the struggles of growing up, the complexities of teenage life, and the strain on keeping a family together when life and responsibilities and expectations feel daunting and overwhelming.
Spielberg and Kushner invest time in these characters and stories. By the end, Spielberg’s ability to bring everything together proves to again be one of the signature calling cards in a career spent trying to provide audiences with his greatest show on earth.
CAST & CREW
Starring: Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Gabriel LaBelle, Seth Rogen, Julia Butters, Keeley Karsten, Judd Hirsch, David Lynch, Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord, Alina Brace, Birdie Borria, Sam Rechner, Oakes Fegley, Chloe East, Isabelle Kusman, Greg Grunberg
Director: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner
Release Date: November 23, 2022
Universal Pictures