The Fabelmans

The Fabelmans

A coming-of-age story about a young man’s discovery of a shattering family secret and an exploration of the power of movies to help us see the truth about each other and ourselves.

  • Released: 2022-11-11
  • Runtime: 151 minutes
  • Genre: Drama
  • Stars: Gabriel LaBelle, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Julia Butters, Judd Hirsch, Jeannie Berlin, Robin Bartlett, Oakes Fegley, Chloe East, Gabriel Bateman, Art Bonilla, Jonathan Hadary, Sam Rechner, Isabelle Kusman, Keeley Karsten, Sophia Kopera, Greg Grunberg, James Urbaniak, Lane Factor, Meredith VanCuyk
  • Director: Steven Spielberg
 Comments
  • glenaobrien - 1 April 2024
    Semi-fictional autobiography of a great film maker
    The Fabelmans is Steven Spielberg's autobiographical account of his childhood experiences. It might as well have been called 'The Spielbergs' as the events related are all true to life. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actress (Michelle Williams), Best Supporting Actor (Judd Hirsch), Best Screenplay (Spielberg and Tony Kushner) and Best Music (John Williams, of course). I like movies about making movies and this one certainly ticks that box as an account of Speilberg's passion for filmmaking, from his boyhood fascination with the train crash scene from Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show On Earth (1952) to his interview with John Ford (played wickedly in a cameo by David Lynch) upon getting his first job in the industry. Its late-fifties, early-sixties settings are meticulously production designed by Rick Carter.

    While certainly no Schindler's List, its a very Jewish story and the high school Anti-Semitism is well recounted (sometimes humorously). Michelle Williams's performance as the free-spirited but unhappy Mitzi Fabelman was the standout performance for me. Even Seth Rogan as family friend, Bennie, shows that he has the ability to transcend his usual schtick. Spielberg's account of his relationship with his parents is a very personal one and this film has been a long overdue passion project for him. His film craft is on full display here, both in storytelling and direction.

    One of the most significant film makers of the modern era, an artist whose work will be talked about and written about for generations, and whose name already belongs with greats like Ford, Hitchcock and DeMille (even though, like all of them he also made a few mediocre films alongside his masterpieces), has revealed to the world the origins of his film craft. It's a fascinating, compelling, and deeply personal story but also, and perhaps most importantly, entertaining. After all, that's what the movies are all about. Spielberg knows that, and can deliver it as much as anyone alive.
  • Masseyk55 - 25 January 2024
    Almost beautiful, but lacking
    I wanted to like this movie so much but just couldn't. The story had so many things going for it and just crashed. Paul Daño was so good as the brilliant tech scientist and loving husband and father. Michelle Williams was excellent as the mentally disturbed mom who couldn't decide who she was and thus ruined everybody's life. Seth Rogen as the "friend" showed that he can actually act. Sam, the central character was wonderful through all the twists and turns of growing up in a family that was seriously maladjusted internally. The performances were good, but story has a way of sneaking up on you and making you see that it's rotting. It was also too long and you get weary of it long before the end. Watch it sometime when you want to be depressed.
  • tonosov-51238 - 26 November 2023
    The bewildering pouring of the soul
    The semi-biographical movie about "definitely not me" by an established director is a stock convention at this point. However, this particular one takes a more peculiar approach. Granted, his parents did ask him to throw their dirty laundry onto the screen, but was it necessary for him to present them in such a pitiful manner?

    It is degrading by itself to portray your father losing his wife to none other than Seth Rogen of all people. And don't get me wrong, the sudden realization of a child that his parents aren't just eternal obelisks of virtue and stability is a clear theme of the movie. But he presents nothing for Paul Dano to work with. It's like Spilberg couldn't figure out whether his father was aware this entire time and just endured or was truly just an oblivious cuckold. Ending the whole movie with this sad glance of a man about to jump into a noose, wishing he could have acted sooner. Acted sooner on what, though? Spielberg tries his hardest to shield his mother by pretending it was all "platonic," while presenting her mannerism and frustration as some kind of BPD. And this is supposed to be the "complex people" he tried to show?

    You wish that the movie was just about his passion for movies and how his upbringing influenced him. But even there, he indulges in melodramatic musing, implying that caring about something is like a burdensome cross a person has to carry and choose between that and his family. And you can either relate to that or roll your eyes like I did. What is undeniable is that the movie still has that prime Spielberg energy and he definitely put his heart into almost every scene. Although I initially felt despondent, it all shifted dramatically thanks to the finale. Showing pure class in how to elevate the movie with an ending, it was nothing short of a perfection.
  • noribori - 11 January 2023
    Connecting the dots
    The first half is a film full of personal anecdotes strung together like pearls on a necklace. As Steve Jobs said: You can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backward. These anecdotes seem to lead to the only possible conclusion, how inevitably the protagonist would become a great director. But actually Spielberg wants to tell us that this wasn't natural at all. The focus of this part is his mother, her way of living her life as a dream will allow him to follow his own dream. His father is not the antagonist, but is only presented as a complementary force. And while we see how his parents eventually separate, we can already understand how he brings them together in his later films, combining his mother's visionary power with his father's technical finesse.

    The second half is a long anecdote that expands into a story and eventually a reflection on filmmaking itself. It revolves around the experience of being Jewish and an outsider. Here we have an antagonist, split into two characters: a sociopath who is vilified, and an insecure and immature person who experiences some redemption. But there is also his first love who is somewhat antagonistic, she is presented in a very light and funny way, showing us how wit and disarming charm can also be ways to handle a controversial subject. These are the three pillars of his cinematic art: to vilify, to redeem, to charm. He shows them as personified types, but we can also ask ourselves how these means of his art have helped to shape this portrait of his parents.

    A special bow to Michelle Williams, without her outstanding performance this film would not be possible.
  • lino_reis - 8 January 2023
    A notebook of memories
    What holds the viewer's interest despite the apparent triviality of a plot such as the one of The Fabelmans? It is true that a movie is much more than its plot, and if this film is so pleasant to enjoy, that is because many elements that are reminiscent of the magical side of cinema have been summoned with success. I feel that this works not only with senior audiences (where I include myself) to whom a certain nostalgia of the 60's and 70's is familiar and appealing, but also with young spectators. So, what makes The Fabelmans the great film it indeed is? Apart from the hand of director Steven Spielberg and a fantastic team of actors, the movie shines with the joie de vivre of its characters and with the delicate manner in which it displays some bad moments that life has in store for them. The whole of it is shown under the eyes of childhood and adolescence with its with its burden of illusion and occasional anxieties.

    The final scene (with the appearance of "the biggest director of them all") is a well achieved epilogue, full of humor. The same can be said of the last shot, an epilogue within the epilogue.

    Finally I must say I also enjoyed the initial address to the audience by Spielberg himself where, appropriately, he did not miss the opportunity to defy spectators to see films in theaters.
  • jaysonpajaronvistal - 5 January 2023
    A love letter to filmmakers and cinephiles.
    The Fabelmans is both a coming-of-age story and a love letter to filmmaking; calling this movie a labor of love is an understatement. The Fabelman is Spielberg's most personal film ever as he shared how he developed his passion for filmmaking while demonstrating the power of escapism the movies brought to his life. Steven Spielberg understands that love for art is not just a hobby but also an expression of one's self and exploration of humankind. Steven Spielberg was able to articulate himself in a very raw yet profound way with his film, The Fabelmans. It is good to see him tell the story of his life while recognizing that his family is far from perfect and how a young man deals with one family crisis and overcoming it through the power of filmmaking. If you share the same love for film, like everyone here, you would certainly appreciate this movie. But, the movie is far from perfect as most of Spielberg's films.

    The movie focuses on Sammy, played wonderfully by Gabriel LaBelle, which sometimes comes off as a bit pretentious as a character. But, Gabriel LaBelle was great in this movie that he showed the emotional depth of the character, and his fascination with filmmaking translates to the audience. Gabriel LaBelle must have felt extreme pressure while playing this character, considering that he's playing one of the best filmmakers of all time, but he was able to give justice to the character at no fault. However, it was Michelle Williams that stood out in this film---to say her performance is phenomenal is diminishing---she was terrific and captivating as Mitzi, a free-spirited mother with an extreme love for art. Paul Dano was great in this film, as well as Seth Rogen. Also, Judd Hirsch is for sure a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination, only in the movie for less than 10 minutes, but his character is pivotal for Sammy's growth.

    During the third act of the film, it kinda lost its footing, the movie became dragging, cliche, and pretentious. But, The Fabelmans is far from Spielberg's best work, like Schindler's List or ET, but the movie works as a coming-of-age story that delivers more of the director's insights. The Fabelmans is a charming and poignant anecdote about life glimpsed through the camera and how those occasions shaped one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Although the movie is predictable and does not come with surprises. The Fabelmans still works without depending on glitzy special effects, an excessive amount of violence, or shock value, but because of its great direction, performances, sincerity, and authenticity from the writing perspective, it resulted in The Fabelmans being one of this year's best films. We can see that it's personal, but it feels like the movie is made for us as well.
  • joeynos - 2 January 2023
    The Spielberg genius somewhat eluded here
    The Fablemans tells the story of an over dramatic and way too complicated family set in the 50's and 60's portraying an already complicated set of situations. Michelle Williams' iron and unhinged matriarch Mitzi Fableman rates top 5 of the most irritating people ever portrayed in a major motion picture. Given the age demographic, The high school angst also seemed over the top and considerably over thought. Gabrielle La Belle and the terribly underrated, but magnificent Judd Hirsch shine as part of this nomadic herd where the rest of the characters here just don't penetrate the emotions of the audience without a roll or two of the eyes. Clocking in at a heavy 2 hours and 30 minutes, the movie requires a tad more depth and sincerity. Not Spielberg's finest and hopefully not his last seat in the director's chair.
  • lmcastrohenriques-26171 - 29 December 2022
    Good Movie!
    This movie is beautiful. The story is really good and the actors too. Michelle Williams does a great performance. The kids also do a great performance.

    The Soundtrack is good, and the production is good. I think the movie will get many Oscars.

    For an auto-biography, this movie is really good. Lots of biography are bad and don't show the life of the person as she was. This doesn't happen in this one.

    It's incredible how they got so much old cameras.

    In summary, I enjoy the movie, and I think that the movie deserves Oscars. It's a really well done movie, with a good story and good actors. Everything is really good in this movie.
  • rehmankhilji - 28 December 2022
    Not a master piece by the Grand Master
    Steven Spielberg, when the name appears, you imagine something big, something extra ordinary and a movie which will certainly be like none other.

    Here is the grand master telling the story as to how the grand master achieved his status, the struggles he faced, the family issues, the betrayal, the experience and his passion for film making, from the very first time, he watched one with this family. How it inspired him, to know, to learn and to make one in the end.

    It touching, however, the master executing the master's life, is not up to the expectations. The movie is slow on the certain levels, the acting is good by all, naming one would not be fair with other, all of them were good, but that element which usually makes you to watch it again or just want the movie to continue, its not there.

    Then again in a nutshell, just a one time watch.
  • MovieWarfare - 26 December 2022
    What a weird family...
    The Fabelmans is a semi-autobiographical based on Steven Spielberg. Funny enough it is also directed by Steven Spielberg. I haven't ever seen a biopic story that is also directed by the person the story is about. That interested me a lot but knowing it was about the legendary director Steven Spielberg is what made me want to watch it. Is the movie an overly self-indulgent semi-biopic, or does Steven continue to show why he is such a great director?

    The film is such an interesting piece as the characters themselves are fictional but based on real people. For example, the character that is meant to represent Spielberg is named Samuel "Sammy" Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle). What I appreciate is that Steven doesn't shy away from the flaws of the character representing him. Sammy is very passionate about filmmaking but he loves it so much that he puts it above his own family. His conflict is trying to pursue his passion while his family is tearing apart. On that note, there is a complex family dynamic with the clash of the logical but stern yet loving Dad (Paul Dano) and the artistic but selfish yet encouraging Mother (Michelle Williams). Sammy inherits both qualities from his parents but also some of their worse. Seeing the struggle of chasing a dream and their isolation is such an engaging theme. None of the characters is terrible people. They do wrong things but there is a lot more nuance to them. The story is incredibly warm, funny, gut-wrenching and powerful.

    The performance here is terrific and worthy of an Oscar. Michelle Williams gives an unforgettable performance as the mother, Mitzi. She shows how caring yet weird of a mother she is but shows how she is gradually getting more and more broken as the movie progresses. She could have easily made her character incredibly hatable but her performance succeeds in making the audience sympathize with her despite her being the main cause of the rift in the family. Paul Dano is also terrific as the dad, Burt. His performance is less eccentric and more subtle but he perfectly conveys the internal struggle of the character. Gabriel LaBelle plays Sammy and he is great. His character is sort of arrogant and Gabriel manages to convey that without being overly pompous and annoying. LaBelle is terrific at communicating a young kid whose emotions are on the verge of exploding. He is a very promising young actor. In terms of supporting actors, Judd Hirsch appears for only two scenes yet he gives such a strong performance that takes over the scene. David Lynch also appears in just one scene but his scene might be the most memorable moment in the film.

    The music is composed by legendary composer John Williams and he continues to do a great job. Although, the score here isn't his most memorable. The cinematography is done by Janusz Kaminski of Schindler's List fame and he continues to be great here. There are tons of great and memorable shots that capture the essence of filmmaking in The Fabelmans. There is an amazing shot that has Sammy using his hands as a screen with a projector aimed at his palm which is stunning. If I had any issue with the film then it has to be the 2nd act with Sammy in high school. Scenes concerning Sammy's romance and his bullying are a little uninteresting compared to everything else. It doesn't help that his girlfriend feels very over the top and the bullies act like all the generic jocks you have seen over a dozen times. Fortunately, the high school stuff have a strong landing.

    Overall, Steven Spielberg continues to show that he is still one of the best directors out there. Despite the film being a semi-biographic on him, he doesn't shy away from the flaws of him and his parents. He shows the struggle of chasing your passion which might resonate with a lot of people. If Spielberg decided this was his last film then this would've been a great final outing. However, from this film alone, I know he loves making films and he won't stop here. I can't wait to see his next work.