The Fabelmans

The Fabelmans is a loose autobiography based on Steven Spielberg’s own childhood. The one guaranteed aspect about a Steven Spielberg movie that you will receive is stellar, pitch-perfect direction! In terms of staging, blocking to virtually every single technicality, it will be the most premium product ever made on the planet and The Fabelmans is most definitely one of it! The heavy impact poured onto a little child’s mind who’s watching a motion picture show for the very first time to that same little child who imagines the same scene by recreating it using a toy train couldn’t be expressed more clearly by any visual and audio work, ever! Unpacked boxes sitting between Mr. and Mrs. Fabelmans signifying unshared secrets, Mrs. Fabelmans (Michelle Williams) spreading butter in the center of the bread slices to visually show how self-centered she is, the mother seated on the front row followed by her husband who is followed by her illicit lover and the son at the opposite end of the frame who knows about all of this and the entire camera circulating Sammy (Gabrielle LaBelle) as he edits a clip in which his mother oscillates between her husband and lover are examples of Spielberg’s sheer unmatched storytelling brilliance!

Another fantastic aspect about The Fabelmans is the use of contrast, either via filmmaking or screenwriting to highlight the primary difference between Burt (Paul Dano) and Bennie (Seth Rogen). Burt is a technical genius, but lacks anything substantially interesting about him. Bennie may not be as smart as him but he can say and/or do whatever Burt attempts to in a much simpler and interesting fashion! But all in all, what’s lacking in The Fabelmans is an interesting subject matter and excellent writing. The most arresting part of the story is Mrs. Fabelmans’ infidelity, followed by Sammy’s passion for filmmaking, even though the latter takes a backseat before emerging again during the resolution. I understand the theme: Even though it may seem selfish, it is important to go after what we love and want without being burdened by what others (in this case, family) want for us, which Sammy learns from his mother’s subplot. While this theme does tie-in well with the core idea / story, it’s the other fluff that the end product surrounds itself with that dilutes the overall sharpness of the film’s point, hence quality. Scenes like Mrs. Fabelmans’ mother passing away and Sammy being bullied by anti-Semitic pricks at school just seem like Spielberg’s childhood stories he wanted to include in the movie even though it doesn’t blend in well nor is it relevant to the story at hand.

The primary aspect we were promised about Sammy’s life story is how he became Spielberg of today aka his filmmaking interest and early career. When The Fabelmans dwell in this, it shines! Sammy has an extremely supportive family and friends who are always at the ready to help him make the movies he want to make ever since his childhood! Sammy’s discovery about how to add gunshots, acting lesson for the soldier actor and the inspiration to add music to his picture thru his mother’s piano performance are the instances I’m talking about. A direct conflict to his filmmaking interest is his father Burt who sees this filmmaking as a hobby aka not something as serious as the engineering career he himself has. Had the script laser its focus onto these three principal characters and these exact conflicts alone between them, The Fabelmans would have been a much more viable motion picture!

The ending where Sammy completes and displays his Ditch Day flick felt tepid as a result, because he didn’t get the praise he deserves which would ultimately have pushed his decision to pursue filmmaking. While the aspect about the bully being presented as a hero is definitely a sweet idea, Sammy should have definitely gotten something out of that presentation. It would have been extremely emotional if all those cheers and claps were for Sammy as well, and it would have further solidified what this film was promised to be about - Sammy’s filmmaking journey.

Michelle Williams’ Mitzi is probably the one character that goes through a clear definitive arc. She had a past where she had to sacrifice her musical dreams for her marriage. She is not willing to do the same again for something (in this case, someone) she loves. And the actress played the dramatic center-of-attention mum very well! If there’s one scene to perfectly encapsulate her character, the primary conflict of the story and the film background aspect of it all, it would be the dreamy dance sequence she performs in front of both the man in her life opposite a car with its full headlights on. Her daughter trying to close Bennie’s eyes from watching it since the lights reveal Mitzi’s insides is an innocent and cute touch that makes that perfect scene even more perfect!

The entire sequence of Uncle Boris’ (Judd Hirsch) encouragement and narration about how artists are always alienated from their own family is absolutely mesmerizing! The same can be said about probably the best sequence in the whole picture, which is when Sammy discovers his mother’s affair. Him meeting legendary director John Ford (David Lynch) who teaches him that ups and downs are what makes life interesting and the painful ordeal the Fabelmans kids go through upon learning their parents are getting a divorce are amazing as well! The merging of Amblin and Universal studio logos in the beginning are fantastic too!

If an unbeatable film-directing super-talent like Spielberg directs a movie with an arresting subject matter, say Superman, James Bond or Harry Potter, could you even imagine the kind of extravagant motion picture event we’ll get to witness?! Ultimately, a director with a stature like Spielberg is going to make the movies he wants to make and undeniably, we are at the final phase of Spielberg’s career. The interestingness of a subject matter is of course subjective, and I’m very eager to see what my guru directs next!