Any other director, any mere mortal, could never get away with Steven Spielberg’s naked sentimentality. His favorite movie is famously It’s a Wonderful Life, a movie directed by Frank Capra, whose style of storytelling was, by turns, derisively and admiringly known as “Capra-corn.”
But Spielberg is no mere mortal – his latest film, which he will surely say is his most “personal,” and yet he’s said that so many times before, is a semi-autobiographical tale that shows us how he went from suburban kid of the Cold War in Arizona, to a Hollywood wunderkind, to now a lauded elder statesman. Well, actually, it stops short of the last bits – but as his character walks away on the movie lot, the familiar hangars (soundstages) in full view, we know the rest of the story.
Starting with Sammy Fabelman’s first movie-going experience with his parents (1952’s The Greatest Show on Earth) he’s hooked. He’s scared, and maybe a bit traumatized by the speeding train which demolishes the car on the tracks, but it isn’t long before Sammy is in the basement trying to re-create the same sequence using model trains and cars.
Some people just have a knack for storytelling and Sammy has “it.” Like so many young filmmakers, the first talent is making something from nothing. Improvising, using blowing dirty to simulate smoke, using the guys from the Boy Scout troop as actors for his Western. It’s all there.
And then there’s a parallel story that feels like a family TV dramedy from my own childhood. The bickering siblings, the grandiose Mother (Michelle Williams channels Spielberg’s late mother Aleah, right down to the white blonde, severe bangs) and the smart but not very present, played to perfection by Paul Dano. Gabriel LaBelle is Sammy – the Steven of the story. He’s also very good.
Most of the family story feels a bit superficial, except for one key element, from which Spielberg doesn’t shy away. Sammy discovers that one of his parents is being unfaithful. He keeps the revelation to himself, making him resentful toward the offending parent, and complicit in keeping the secret. I found this part to be of more interest, especially since the “A story” of a kid getting a camera and putting together a show is, of course, more familiar.
Yes, it’s a bit corny, it’s sentimental – but even a mediocre story well told is greatly elevated. The film doesn’t even make it to Spielberg’s own Top 5, but it’s a good watch, and an affirmation that there is magic in the movies. Even now.
The Fabelmans | Rated PG-13 | In Theatres| 3 out of 4 Stars
