THE FABELMANS REVIEW

 *MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Since the release of his box office hit, Jaws, in 1975, Steven Spielberg has become known as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time who has continued to find success with entertaining films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and Jurassic Park. He has also impressed critics with his powerful dramas such as Schindler’s List (which earned Spielberg his first Best Director Oscar and won Best Picture at the 66th Academy Awards) and Saving Private Ryan (with Spielberg winning his second Oscar for Best Director, unfortunately, the film lost the Best Picture award to Shakespeare in Love). In the early 2000s, Spielberg directed the sci-fi films, A.I. Artificial Intelligence and Minority Report, both of which explored interesting and thought provoking ideas through a compelling narrative. Because of his vast filmography that includes movies of varying genres, there’s no denying that Spielberg is one of Hollywood’s best directors. As a result, there’s always excitement whenever he releases a new film and that’s still the case with The Fabelmans which sees Spielberg making his most personal film yet. 

Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle) aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth.

Since its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September last year, The Fabelmans has been lauded by critics with most of their praise going towards Spielberg’s expert directing and his personal and touching story. Because of all of the positivity surrounding Spielberg’s latest film, my expectations were high and, fortunately, The Fabelmans didn’t disappoint.

Although the characters in The Fabelmans are fictional, they’re all inspired by Spielberg’s family, including his parents who are portrayed by Michelle Williams and Paul Dano. The former stands out as Mitzi Fabelman who inspires a young Sammy to make films after a cinema trip to watch The Greatest Show On Earth. In films such as Brokeback Mountain, Shutter Island and Manchester By The Sea, Williams has impressed with her unforgettable supporting roles, however, in The Fabelmans, she shines in the leading role. It’s not surprising that she’s currently nominated for Best Actress at this year’s Academy Awards. Although he was overlooked, Dano is equally as impressive as Sammy’s father, Burt, who is cynical and thinks that making films is just a hobby for his son. Because he’s best known for his comical roles, it was surprising to see Seth Rogen in a Spielberg film, however, as family friend, Benny Loewy, he delivers a solid performance. Although he only has one scene, Judd Hirsch provides a strong supporting role as Sammy’s uncle Boris Podgorny. While each of the performances in The Fabelmans are impressive, the crucial casting was that of Sammy Fabelman who represents Spielberg himself and, with Gabriel LaBelle, they made the right choice. The role of Sammy was always going to be a challenging one, however, LaBelle succeeds and leaves a lasting impression with his performance. He successfully captures Sammy’s passion for filmmaking and also the emotional turmoil he faces when he discovers a shocking discovery whilst editing one of his home videos following a family camping trip with Benny. This revelation changes how Sammy perceives his mother who he believed to be perfect and inspirational, however, he now knows that she’s flawed and makes mistakes like any other human. 

The script for The Fabelmans was written by Spielberg and Tony Kushner, who previously worked with the director on his previous films, West Side Story, Lincoln and Munich. Their script for The Fabelmans is thematic as it explores the most important parts of Sammy’s life, including his relationship with his parents and his love for making films. Although Spielberg is known as one of the best filmmakers of all time, his childhood and teen years were difficult like anyone else’s as he struggled with the divorce of his parents. The result of their decision to separate influenced the family dynamic in many of his films which featured parents separating or single parents having to raise children on their own. It would have been easy for Spielberg to simply focus on only the happiest moments from his life, however, the result would have been a film that felt too sentimental and unrealistic so I respect him for including the sad memories, including moving house and school and being frequently bullied for being Jewish. The Fabelmans represents Spielberg’s most personal film and further establishes him as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.

At this year’s Academy Awards, The Fabelmans is currently nominated for seven Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actress for Michelle Williams, Best Supporting Actor for Judd Hirsch, Best Original Screenplay and Best Director for Spielberg. It’s not surprising that The Fabelmans been recognised by the Academy as it’s the type of film that gets nominated and that’s one that features outstanding work from its talented cast and expert director.

8/10