The Fabelmans 2022
Steven Spielberg is a great director who hit it big at a young age, so I definitely wanted to see his movie about him growing up. It is a personal story about his family, so it isn’t really a made for Hollywood story, just a story about a guy doted on by his mother (writers are always mama’s boys). His parents definitely have their issues and the movie is as much about them, albeit as seen through their son’s eyes. Spielberg has always had this great way with movies involving kids, so I thought he would really knock this material out of the park, but I think he wanted to keep it more authentic, so we see more of “Sammy Fabelman” just filming and editing than getting inspiration. He isn’t scared of sharks, doesn’t have a fascination with aliens, doesn’t have complete movies formed in his head, etc. He is just a kid who loves the ins and outs of filming and gets all his family and friends involved in bigger and bigger projects. And that’s about all there is to it. A lot of people get started making movies or writing books that are autobiographical, but Spielberg did his small personal movie much later in life. Ironically, it doesn’t feel at all like a Spielberg movie. It isn’t a great movie, but it is a nice movie and a personal movie, made much more interesting because the kid playing around with movie cameras would be one of all time great movie directors.
Written: 30 Jan 2023