GulfportDoc
12-20-22, 08:31 PM
90412
The Fabelmans (2022)
The Fabelmans is a core family movie-- a movie about a family, one that has a prodigy within it whose story is revealed as a reflection of that family and of his inspirations and his formation into one of the greatest movie makers of the last 50 years.
This is not an autobiography of Steven Spielberg, but it is autobiographical. We’re left to wonder how much of the story is verbatim, but we’re certain that they’ve included many significant highlights.
Sammy Fabelman was born into a Jewish family consisting of a gifted pre-computer scientist father, an artist dreamer mother, three sisters, and the father’s best friend Benny who lives with them, referred to as an “uncle”. Early on Sammy, aged 7, is taken to a showing of DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), where Sammy’s initial reluctance turns into complete fascination with the powerful film, most especially by a remarkable scene showing the traveling circus’s train crashing and piling up upon itself. The boy can’t get the scene out of his mind, and when he gets a train set for a present he tries over and over to replicate the scene. Fearing that Sammy will ruin the train set, his mother suggests that he get permission from his dad to use his 8mm camera to film the crash, which he then can view as many times as he’d like.
Filming that crash scene starts Sammy’s journey into film making. He enlists family, friends, and fellow boy scouts to participate in his film escapades, and as he acquires better equipment and more experience, he’s allowed to film his high school’s Senior “skip day” as the class spends a fun day at the beach, which is a smash success, but uncovers unexpected emotions from a few students, even from a former anti-Semitic tormentor. Along the way his filming during a family outing accidentally reveals a budding relationship between his mother and “uncle” Benny. Several characters come and go into Sammy’s life giving him insights and inspiration. After much rejection from the industry, he’s finally offered a job with a CBS sitcom, which sets him out on his well known professional career.
I approached this picture with the same confidence that I’ve felt in the past watching films from directors like Alfred Hitchcock and John Houston, that their work is of such a high quality, I was with high expectations willing to put myself in their capable hands for a couple of hours. The Fabelmans did not disappoint. Despite its 2-1/2 hour runtime I was not the least bit aware of its length from start to finish.
The story was interesting enough but it was the acting, cinematography, production design and settings and costuming that really impressed me. I’m two years older than Spielberg so I’m well aware of the way things looked in the decades of the ‘50s into the early ‘60s. So often earlier time frames are treated in a gaudy technicolor manner which is caricature, not reality. The buildings, garb, coloring, homes, furniture were 100% authentic. The era’s personality types, state of mind and manner of speaking were well represented, almost perfectly avoiding present day idioms. The simple but powerful music score was by John Williams.
Michelle Williams is a sure bet for an Oscar from her role as Sammy’s mother, Mitzi. She let out all the stops, and if the Academy has any integrity left, she’ll likely win Best Actress. I thought Paul Dano was slightly miscast as Sammy’s father, Burt, but he delivered a solid and understated performance. Sammy was played with excellence by Gabriel LaBelle, a young Canadian actor who we’re guaranteed to see more of. There must have been a lot of pressure on him to perform under the eyes of the man he’s portraying. And the young Sammy, played by Mateo Zoryan was letter perfect.
Two cameos --one extended, the other rather brief-- were absolutely memorable standouts. One, Sammy’s Uncle Boris, played by the venerable Judd Hirsch, was a performance which will be studied in acting schools. The other, director John Ford, played by the quixotic director David Lynch, was not only a good impersonation, but one with enjoyable high style.
Reportedly Spielberg had envisioned this film for many years, and it must have taken a huge amount of thought as to how to hit important events in his childhood and family which produced the development of his determination to make movies, but yet with enough appeal to engage a wide audience. Still, when it came down to it, the script, co-written by Spielberg and Tony Kushner, came together very quickly. It is of the very best of the year, and will be awarded for it.
Doc’s rating: 8/10
The Fabelmans (2022)
The Fabelmans is a core family movie-- a movie about a family, one that has a prodigy within it whose story is revealed as a reflection of that family and of his inspirations and his formation into one of the greatest movie makers of the last 50 years.
This is not an autobiography of Steven Spielberg, but it is autobiographical. We’re left to wonder how much of the story is verbatim, but we’re certain that they’ve included many significant highlights.
Sammy Fabelman was born into a Jewish family consisting of a gifted pre-computer scientist father, an artist dreamer mother, three sisters, and the father’s best friend Benny who lives with them, referred to as an “uncle”. Early on Sammy, aged 7, is taken to a showing of DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), where Sammy’s initial reluctance turns into complete fascination with the powerful film, most especially by a remarkable scene showing the traveling circus’s train crashing and piling up upon itself. The boy can’t get the scene out of his mind, and when he gets a train set for a present he tries over and over to replicate the scene. Fearing that Sammy will ruin the train set, his mother suggests that he get permission from his dad to use his 8mm camera to film the crash, which he then can view as many times as he’d like.
Filming that crash scene starts Sammy’s journey into film making. He enlists family, friends, and fellow boy scouts to participate in his film escapades, and as he acquires better equipment and more experience, he’s allowed to film his high school’s Senior “skip day” as the class spends a fun day at the beach, which is a smash success, but uncovers unexpected emotions from a few students, even from a former anti-Semitic tormentor. Along the way his filming during a family outing accidentally reveals a budding relationship between his mother and “uncle” Benny. Several characters come and go into Sammy’s life giving him insights and inspiration. After much rejection from the industry, he’s finally offered a job with a CBS sitcom, which sets him out on his well known professional career.
I approached this picture with the same confidence that I’ve felt in the past watching films from directors like Alfred Hitchcock and John Houston, that their work is of such a high quality, I was with high expectations willing to put myself in their capable hands for a couple of hours. The Fabelmans did not disappoint. Despite its 2-1/2 hour runtime I was not the least bit aware of its length from start to finish.
The story was interesting enough but it was the acting, cinematography, production design and settings and costuming that really impressed me. I’m two years older than Spielberg so I’m well aware of the way things looked in the decades of the ‘50s into the early ‘60s. So often earlier time frames are treated in a gaudy technicolor manner which is caricature, not reality. The buildings, garb, coloring, homes, furniture were 100% authentic. The era’s personality types, state of mind and manner of speaking were well represented, almost perfectly avoiding present day idioms. The simple but powerful music score was by John Williams.
Michelle Williams is a sure bet for an Oscar from her role as Sammy’s mother, Mitzi. She let out all the stops, and if the Academy has any integrity left, she’ll likely win Best Actress. I thought Paul Dano was slightly miscast as Sammy’s father, Burt, but he delivered a solid and understated performance. Sammy was played with excellence by Gabriel LaBelle, a young Canadian actor who we’re guaranteed to see more of. There must have been a lot of pressure on him to perform under the eyes of the man he’s portraying. And the young Sammy, played by Mateo Zoryan was letter perfect.
Two cameos --one extended, the other rather brief-- were absolutely memorable standouts. One, Sammy’s Uncle Boris, played by the venerable Judd Hirsch, was a performance which will be studied in acting schools. The other, director John Ford, played by the quixotic director David Lynch, was not only a good impersonation, but one with enjoyable high style.
Reportedly Spielberg had envisioned this film for many years, and it must have taken a huge amount of thought as to how to hit important events in his childhood and family which produced the development of his determination to make movies, but yet with enough appeal to engage a wide audience. Still, when it came down to it, the script, co-written by Spielberg and Tony Kushner, came together very quickly. It is of the very best of the year, and will be awarded for it.
Doc’s rating: 8/10