The Fabelmans: a movie review by Alex First
Master filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s searing personal memories are illuminated on the big screen in The Fabelmans.
As the saying goes, the names have been changed, but the tale is unmistakably his.
One of four children, Sammy Fabelman (played by Gabriel LaBelle and Mateo Zoryan, the latter the younger Sammy) moved several times with his family in his formative years.
That is because of his father Burt’s (Paul Dano) groundbreaking engineering work.
The family shifted from New Jersey to Arizona to California.
Burt doted on his wife Mitzi (Michelle Williams), a gifted pianist, who was also much more of a free spirit than her process-driven husband.
Also living with them was Burt’s best friend and fellow boffin Bennie Loewy (Seth Rogen).
Sammy’s interest in movie making was sparked at age six in 1952, after his parents took him to see his first film, Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth. He was left wide-eyed.
It was trying to replicate the train crash in that film that saw him pick up a movie camera for the first time.
Thereafter, filming quickly became an obsession.
Sammy also noticed a changing dynamic in the family structure, which becomes a pivot point in the movie.
Although his father wanted Sammy to pursue a solid profession, the latter had other ideas.
So, there you have it – how Sammy Fabelman, a.k.a. Steven Spielberg, got into the business of making movies.
With Spielberg in the director’s chair and he and Tony Kushner responsible for the writing, the performances in The Fabelmans are certainly worthy.
Michelle Williams strikes many of the right notes in her portrayal of Mitzi, a wife, mother and woman who has an itch she needs to scratch.
Paul Dano does well as a conservative, principled and decent husband, father and friend who wants the best for his wife and family.
Seth Rogen brings a nice balance to his persona as the Fabelman’s friend, confidante and more.
Judd Hirsch is impactful as his estranged uncle Boris.
And then there is the centrepiece of the picture, Sammy. I thought Gabriel LaBelle and Mateo Zoryan did a fine job portraying their character’s road to enlightenment … his coming of age.
Still, while engaging to a point, I felt The Fabelmans outwore its welcome. It struggled to justify its two-and-a-half-hour running time.
Sure, the story is sensitively told, but some scenes are too drawn out for my liking and overall, it is too slow.
I was also conscious the film was milking emotion rather than that occurring more naturally.
In short, I simply didn’t find the movie as compelling as I wanted it to be.
That is not to suggest that it isn’t a decent film, but I wouldn’t call it outstanding either. I left the cinema a tad disappointed.
Rated M, it scores a 7½ out of 10. Running time – 150 minutes
