When you have a career spanning over five decades, there isn’t much ground you haven’t covered yet with your films. But somehow, Spielberg manages to make a movie about his love of movies and how that started, alongside a family drama based on his own family. The brilliant thing about The Fabelmans is that it is both, the family drama plays a major part in his film journey, and that is what makes this film his most personal to date.
And that is the beauty of The Fabelmans. You can view this movie through the lens of how one of the best (arguably the best) directors of all time started and what inspired him. But it would be a shame to ignore that complex family drama with his parents, as that was something not showcased often. The idea that you can like somebody, even love them, and yet, you know there is somebody you love more. I don’t think that gets displayed in modern pop culture enough. And the fact this not only happened to Steven but that his parents stayed friends even after everything that’s happened, we barely see that in mainstream films.
You could argue that The Fabelmans is the least “Spielberg” film ever made. You can spot the “movie magic” he has, but the film doesn’t really follow one “concrete story” as it is more of a character piece, and Sammy (our protagonist portrayed by Mateo Zoryan and Gabriel LaBelle) is in the middle of everything. Sure, we mainly follow his journey as he is our main character, but often the film focuses on other events but from his perspective. I found those scenes fascinating because if you were to take this film literally, Sammy (therefore Steven) used filmmaking as his happy place, his escape when things weren’t going great. The scene where his parents were arguing, and he was just there filming it at first seemed odd, but the more you think about him and the fact we see everything from his perspective, the more it makes sense.
I never thought I would see the day when Seth Rogen, the “stoner in charge”, would appear in a Spielberg film. And not only he managed to do it, but he was also great in his role too. He doesn’t have the flashiest role, because his character had to be more subtle, but he can’t be “too subtle” because we need to understand that special bond he had with Mitzi, played by Michelle Williams. She and Paul Dano were the highlights of this film.
Paul has been an amazing actor for almost two decades, and it’s great that he is finally getting the mainstream recognition he deserves. His dad can seem “weak”, but the more time you spend with him, the more you understand his character and how strong he is. The same applies to Michelle’s character as she seems a bit “out there” at first, but soon you will start the cracks to appear, and you get where she is coming from. I love this part of Michelle’s career where she takes risks and plays these characters that are complex, often not too likeable, people. It would be easy to dislike her character, but she plays it so well she makes it impossible.
The only thing that goes against this film might be the length. I wasn’t sure whether we needed 151 minutes, but even that complaint I can see going away on future rewatches. As The Fabelmans is a film about cinephiles, for cinephiles and these kinds of movies have always been my weakness (please see if you haven’t Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988), you can thank me later). But in the hands of one of the most brilliant directors of all time, it is much more than just a “love letter to the movies”. If you listen to Steven talking about this film and remembering his childhood, you can feel how much this film meant to him to get those characters right. And it makes sense. I mean, can you imagine making a film about your family? I don’t know about you, but I would want to make sure my family was portrayed the same way I remember them whilst not judging them too much. And I think he nailed it.
One last note; there is an excellent cameo at the end of this film. I won’t spoil who it is, but the moment he appeared, I was living for that moment. Then you learn that the cameo isn’t there just for “shits and giggles”, but it actually happened, and it is almost word for word what John Ford said to the young Steven at the time. Yes, that is the only thing I think I can reveal the surprise cameo portrays the legendary director John Ford. And once you see who it is and how he delivers every single of his lines, I hope you will love it as much as I had.
Overall, The Fabelmans is the most personal film of Spielberg’s long career. He shows us what made him into the cinephile he is and allows us to peek at how he grew up. But most importantly, he makes it compelling, fun and uplifting. That might be a weird thing to write, considering this film has a family drama at its core, and many of this film’s characters are complex, to say the least. But that is Spielberg’s magic; I don’t think anybody can be in a bad mood when the moment the last shot happens and the film ends. And that is a sign of a remarkable film made by somebody who simply loves movies.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke
