The Fabelmans Review
A couple days ago I was able to check out the latest film from Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans. This movie actually was re-released in my local movie theater. So I was able to see this movie on the big screen, which was exciting. So how is the movie? Does it deserve the possible Best Picture nomination? Those questions will be answered! Let’s get started!
The Good:
And I’ll just start off by saying, I thought this movie was great. I really dug this movie and it is one of the best movies of 2022. Obviously, I saw this movie after I posted my 2022 movie ranking, this movie absolutely would be in that top 10. And I just thought this movie did a great job at everything it was going for. If you don’t know what this movie is, it’s a semi auto-biographical movie of Steven Spielberg’s childhood. So it’s an inspirational movie about inspiration and pursuing your dreams. But it all mixes in this family drama, some humor, and some romance in there as well. It packages these emotions and ideas together in one movie that makes it feel consistent with itself. Steven Spielberg is the true master of crafting movies, he’s crafted so many great and iconic movies, this is one of them. I think this movie is going to go down as one of Spielberg’s best movies to date.
As it is this movie about Spielberg’s childhood and the movie is about pursuing your dreams. It’s such an inspirational movie that you really care about the boy’s journey and wanting to make films. Since we are watching this movie and we know where this boy’s life goes, it adds to it. It adds this other layer of hope and inspiration. And it reminds you that you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it. If you want to do something with your life, do it. This movie basically covers his entire childhood, the movie starts when he’s 8-9 years old and ends when he’s graduated from high school so you see a lot of his childhood. And you see the ups and downs that he had in his life. But the end goal, what the movie makes you feel with this inspirational tone makes it all better.
Going back to something that I mentioned before, you do have to talk about Steven Spielberg as the director. He won the Golden Globe for Best Director at The Golden Globes, and this film won Best Drama at The Golden Globes. I think both of those are well deserved wins, and especially for Spielberg. He’s able to craft and create these scenes that don’t need to say a lot but you understand everything. Certain scenes you are able to understand what characters are feeling just by the look on their faces. Or even the way certain scenes build tension, especially in the finale. In a weird way the film kind of builds to have its own climax and exciting third act in ways that you aren’t expecting. I think Spielberg delivers one of the best directed movies of the year.
Also I found the cast of the movie to be fantastic from top to bottom. Everybody in this movie delivers a great performance. Playing Spielberg’s parents are Michelle Williams and Paul Dano and both of them are great. Both of them do a great job portraying these parents that are trying to do their best in the situation handed to them. And what’s nice about the characters is that they aren't portrayed as perfect or antagonists. They are like normal parents who love and care for their children but also make mistakes along the way. I think both will get nominations, and I sure hope they do. Another person you have to talk about is Gabriel LaBelle as the young Steven Spielberg. And the whole movie (or most of the movie) falls on his shoulders as you are following this boy’s journey of victory and loss all around him. And he needs to emote these moments of happiness, sadness, love, and he does all of that really well. I think after this movie, and if this movie wins Best Picture I think we will be seeing a lot more of him in Hollywood. But even other side roles are filled with Seth Rogen and Judd Hirsch, both are great in the movie.
And I appreciated how entertaining this movie was. Now it moves at a nice pace here, it is 2 hours and 30 minutes long and I think there are some arguments to say that it doesn’t need that long of a runtime. But for me, I think it moved quickly from plot point to plot point. It doesn’t linger on any scene or sequence for too long, it moves at just the right pace to keep you entertained. And it also just has a nice sense of humor through-out it. It’s not a big joke set-up like most MCU movies too. No, it comes from the ways people interact with one another in real life.
Finally, the film is composed by John Williams, of course the greatest movie composer of all time. And so you have to talk about this score for the movie, and it’s great. I don’t think it’s as iconic or memorable as Jurassic Park or Superman or Star Wars. But it’s a very solid film score that is very subtle and not big and flashy like some of his other film scores.
The Bad:
First thing that comes to mind is like I’ve said before the movie tackles about 10 years of Spielberg’s childhood. And in the back half of the movie it really focuses on him in high school and finding love. I didn’t find that stuff all that interesting, of the stuff in the movie probably some of the least interesting for me. Which is weird because it focuses on him as a senior in high school, and I’m a senior in high school. I’m not saying that stuff is bad, but I found other aspects of the movie to be better.
Also I really didn’t like what they did with the Michelle Williams character, the mom of the movie. If you’ve seen the movie you know what I’m talking about and might agree with me. I think there was an interesting arc and journey for the character to go on. But I think the movie needed to go with a different end point for the character. I don’t think the ending to her journey, her arc was the most satisfying. And it didn’t evoke the right emotions that I think the movie was trying to pull from you.
Final Thoughts: The Fabelmans is a great semi auto-biographical take on Steven Spielberg’s childhood. The film is directed greatly, it’s inspirational, the cast is great, it’s entertaining, and it has a great score. This is how you make a movie, it’s so well rounded with everything it’s doing. I thought it was great and ABSOLUTELY one of the best of the year.
The Score: 9.0/10 (A-)
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