The Fabelmans 

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Written by Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner

Starring Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, and Seth Rogan

Released in theaters (US) Nov. 11, 2022

Available to rent or buy on most platforms, including Amazon Prime and Apple TV

Another one on our (K’s and my) Academy Award Bucket List. I knew it was written and produced by Steven Spielberg. I didn’t realize that Tony Kushner was the cowriter. They are both very good at creating engaging narratives with big and important ideas, but bowdlerized for popular consumption. So, I thought, “This won’t be great. But it will probably be good.”
And that’s what it was. Good. Even quite good in some ways. But not great.

What I Liked About It 

* The story itself. The early interest in moviemaking. The support of Spielberg’s father. The infidelity of his mother. The denouement.

* The character played by Seth Rogan. A great take on a weak and despicable man.

* The character played by Michelle Williams, as Spielberg’s mom. It wasn’t quite as convincing as Rogan’s, but still fascinating.

What I Didn’t Like So Much 

Everything Spielberg. Spielberg is a great movie maker. There is no doubt about that. But his movies, the stories themselves, are surface level. This was even true of this story, which had more potential.

Critical Reception 

* “The Fabelmans is a film that shifts something inside you. Working through one of the most crushing events of his own life, Spielberg exhorts us to discover, yet again, the enduring magic of the movies.” (Anupama Chopra, Film Companion)

* “Possibly the most lavishly mounted home movie ever made. Appropriately enough, that is its great strength and its fatal weakness.” (Mark Kermode, Observer/UK)

* “The tone gets complicated. Adolescence often is. Flippancy aside, that is the movie’s signature: the acceptance that two things can be going on at once.” (Danny Leigh, Financial Times)

You can watch the trailer here.