A Reel Review: THE FABELMANS

Everyone knows the stories behind Steven Spielberg becoming one of the greatest directors of all time. We all know the trials and terrors he endured to make JAWS, how he and his bestest good buddy George Lucas created an archeologist named after a dog, and his deep personal reasons for making WWII films such as SCHINDLER’S LIST and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. This year, Spielberg invites us to meet THE FABELMANS, so we can learn the story before the stories. 

 

Sam Fabelman (played by Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord as an eight-year-old, and Gabriel LaBelle as a teen), is taken to the movies to see THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH by his parents; his father Burt (Paul Dano), and his mother Mitzi (Michelle Williams). Sam instantly falls in love with the movies, and immediately begins making his own despite resistance from his father. 

 

Directed by Spielberg and loosely based on his own adolescence and early years as a filmmaker, THE FABELMANS avoids any of the cliché elements we are used to seeing in a biopic about a well-known artist. We do not see Sam have an encounter with a man in a fedora hat or a shark or other contrived scenes, but instead Spielberg turns this prequel into a film about family, and it’s in those family dynamics where Sam finds his cinematic inspirations. It begins humbly with Sam using model trains to recreate the spectacular wreck from THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, to recruiting his fellow Boy Scouts to make Western and war films using simple means. As successful as he is in making little 8mm films, he encounters discouragement from his dad (an electrical engineer and very practical man), and encouragement from his mom (a classical piano player, very much a free-soul, and a little loose upstairs). 

 

THE FABELMANS unspools episodically, as the family moves from city to city to support dad’s work, and Sam deals with adjusting as the “new kid” in school along with antisemitic assholes. He gets a boost from his old uncle (a magnificent Judd Hirsch), and even from his dad’s best friend Bennie (Seth Rogen), who causes trouble within his family. There are themes at work in all this involving talent and letting it grow versus family responsibility, along with how an artist can use their art to communicate, cope, and uplift. Spielberg and his co-writer Tony Kushner weaves everything beautifully. 

Spielberg has been thinking making this film as far back as 1999, and he shoots it with the tender loving care that we would expect from him. Every shot is a painting. Pacing is very deliberate, although the laughs hit well. The film feels like it could have been a bit tighter, as some scenes have some redundancy. John Williams’ score, consisting mostly of piano pieces, is excellent. 

 

The entire cast shines bright. Gabriel LaBelle is tremendous, and he pairs well with Paul Dano. Michelle Williams steals the show, and the supporting cast of Judd Hirsch and Seth Rogen are solid. And watch out for a whopper of a cameo near the end when Sam meets one of his idols. 

 

Anyone going into THE FABELMANS looking for a tale of how Spielberg got his ideas for his legendary filmography may walk away disappointed, as that is not the story he wants to tell. Spielberg’s message here is that family makes us who we are, and it is in the movies where filmmakers inject themselves. After viewing THE FABELMANS, we won’t see JAWS any differently, but we will have a deeper appreciation to the boy who looked through the camera. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: See it