24 Nov The Fabelmans Review

THE FABELMANS

dir. Steven Spielberg, starring Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, and Paul Dano

The Fabelmans, a coming-of-age tale about a young boy who discovers what would be his lifelong passion of filmmaking and storytelling, is set in the 1960s as Sammy Fabelman navigates life through his formative years. Given a camera from his mother to help as an outlet for his creativity, Sammy manages to capture an act that will tear his family apart if shown. A love letter to the events of his past, director Steven Spielberg uses Sammy to relay to the audience the pains of growing up Jewish in a post-World War II era as well as the joys of his life’s calling.

With the continuing trend of older directors looking back and retelling imagined versions of their youth (Belfast, Armageddon Time), Spielberg proves yet again that he’s one of the masters of the craft. Showing the slow dissolving relationship of the Fabelman family as contrasted with Sammy’s growing love and talent for storytelling gives the movie the necessary weight while not being shy to inject moments of humor throughout. A point of interest that Spielberg intentionally plays with is the magic of movies as a use of escapism; for most moviegoers, a movie is a great way to forget life’s ills for a couple of hours and be swept away to far flung lands said audience may never get the chance to experience for themselves. Unfortunately, in The Fabelmans, it’s Sammy’s discovery while editing film that really kickstarts the unravelling of the family. Full of heart, emotion, a love of movies and the process behind the making of them, The Fabelmans never gets too saccharine or overly sentimental; Spielberg rides a perfect line between dreamy nostalgia and melancholic remembrance.

Starring Gabriel LaBelle, The Fabelmans shows the makings of an excellent young actor who’s poised to have an amazing career. Confident, funny, cold, and extremely vulnerable at times, LaBelle is the movie’s brightest spot. With his easygoing charm, it’s easy for audiences to immediately latch onto LaBelle as he portrays Sammy Fabelman, the Steven Spielberg stand-in for the story. There’s times Spielberg perfectly captures the wonder on LaBelle’s face, primarily when Sammy is shooting or editing a movie. While not as strong in some of the film’s more emotional scenes, specifically those with his parents, LaBelle still manages to provide an overall impressive performance, especially in the shoes he’s filling.

Also starring Michelle Williams and Paul Dano as Sammy’s parents, it’s not immediately clear why either actor took these roles. It’s not until late in the film where Michelle Williams really starts heating up and giving a great performance that it’s clear to see why she accepted the role. Williams cruises along through the movie, but in two powerful scenes kicks into a higher gear where the audience is reminded that she’s a four-time Academy Award nominated actress. There are depths of sadness to Mitzi Fabelman, and Williams swims those depths with the skill of a well-seasoned sailor. The pain, the attempts to hide the pain, and the depression that battles Mitzi throughout the film make for some of the more poignant scenes in the movie.

For his part, Paul Dano’s performance is incredibly subdued in a way that only Paul Dano can do. Fresh off his take as The Riddler in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, Dano does a come about-face here as the soft spoken, loving father figure of the The Fabelmans’ household. As a technological wizard, Burt Fabelman uses his skills and saavy to increase his family’s station in life, although some of the family moves seem to have ulterior motives behind them. While never spoken aloud in Burt’s presence, there’s a secret that hangs about the family that Dano manages to squeeze every drop of doubt from. With an incredible internal performance, this role of Burt Fabelman is one of Dano’s best.

It’d be criminal to not give a mention to veteran actor Judd Hirsch. Appearing in only three scenes in the film, it’s the second scene, the meat of his time on screen, that Hirsch steals every bit of shine from Gabriel LaBelle and takes him to acting class. Charming, funny, and still deadly serious, Sammy’s great uncle Hersch lays down for Sammy the two paths that face him in life. Almost a monologue with brief interruptions from Sammy, Boris provides one of the year’s best scenes as a character who drops a bit of backstory for Mitzi as well as being the catalyst for Sammy. Hirsch’s performance speaks to decades of screen and theater work, nailing his timing while dispensing his life advice and had he more screen time, Hirsch could’ve had a clear shot at a Supporting Actor nomination.

Directed by Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans shows a storyteller entering his sixth decade of moviemaking still retaining the ability to produce stories that inspire awe and wonder. It’s never easy to adapt and fictionalize one’s life into a story for mass consumption, but Spielberg does so in a way that neither paints him as a saint nor asks the audience for pity. While it’s unlikely that Spielberg will reveal which elements are real, which are embellished, and which are completely fabricated, that fact that all three blend so seamlessly together shows just how he and writer Tony Kushner are (this being their fourth collaboration behind Munich, Lincoln, and West Side Story). From a directorial standpoint, Spielberg doesn’t bring anything new or flashy out of the toolbox. Unlike West Side Story, which features some impressive feats of cinematography, timing, and coordination, here in The Fabelmans he turns it down a notch, preferring to keep the focus off his talents and on his fictionalized family.

Overall, The Fabelmans is one of the year’s more heartfelt stories. A fictionalized retelling of the youth of one of the best living filmmakers, Spielberg shows both the ugly sides and the bright sides of his life in a way that keeps the audience engaged and locked in. Knowing how the story ends makes the journey even more entertaining; seeing Sammy’s love and appreciation for filmmaking blossom and mature gives the audience an insight into the life of a man who’s dedicated his to the art of storytelling. With excellent performances from the three main leads, as well as one powerfully raw scene with Judd Hirsch, The Fabelmans stands as one the best movies to start winding down the year. The Fabelmans is currently in theaters.

Review by Darryl Mansel