by A.J.
Best Pictures #94: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee
“Movies are dreams, doll, that you never forget.”
It might seem odd to say that Steven Spielberg has never made a movie like The Fabelmans before. Yet, there are no aliens or dinosaurs or anything supernatural or futuristic, it is a period piece but not about a major historical event, nor is it an adaptation of a prestigious work. It is a family drama and a coming-of-age story. It is as though those superb, intimate moments of family life at the beginnings of JAWS, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Poltergeist (co-written and produced by Spielberg), or Catch Me If You Can get to play out in full. This is not precisely a biopic but it is a dramatization of Spielberg’s childhood and teenage years. Spielberg, of course, embraces sentiment but avoids schmaltz and solipsism and self-indulgence in both story and style to the betterment of his picture. Most importantly he also avoids false humility. Autobiographical aspects notwithstanding, only a master filmmaker like Spielberg could have made a movie as good as The Fabelmans, his best film in twenty years.
This story begins in 1952 in New Jersey as Burt and Mitzi Fabelman take their young son, Sammy, to the movies for the first time to see The Greatest Show on Earth (winner of the Best Picture Oscar that year). It is a life changing experience for Sammy. He is so affected by that movie’s incredible train crash scene that he has to recreate the moment, with the help of his understanding mother, with his toy train set and father’s home movie camera. Thus begins Sammy Fabelman’s life making movies, not as a hobby but because he has to. As time passes and the family moves first to Arizona then to California and Sammy becomes a teenager, and prefers to be called Sam, making movies allows him to see his family and his world in unexpected ways.
Michelle Williams receives top billing as Mitzi Fabelman, whose life is thrown off by the moves the family must make from one state to the next because of her husband Burt’s career. Williams is eccentric but not exactly over the top—a full blown over the top mother would feel too much like a Hollywood contrivance—though she seems to be channeling Liza Minnelli even in her less frantic moments. This is not a fault against her or the movie; her character carries the emotional burden that drives most of the story. Sam’s inner conflict comes in part from learning about his mother’s secret while editing a home movie. The Academy likes performances that it can “see,” so it is no surprise that she earned a Best Actress nomination. Paul Dano is cast perfectly as Burt Fabelman, an engineer working in the new field of computers who connects best with his loved ones when he is talking about technical things. He is a kind, gentle father and there is something of Christopher Walken as Frank Abagnale, Sr. from Catch Me If You Can in Dano’s performance. As lovable “Uncle” Benny, Burt’s best friend and colleague, Seth Rogan gives a career best performance, though he is still playing a comic relief character. Benny is not just Burt’s best friend but also Mitzi’s best friend and confidant and perhaps the audience, like Grandma Fabelman (Jeannie Berlin), will pick up on what only Sammy’s camera sees.
Like a whirlwind, Judd Hirsch, funny, exciting, a little frightening, and unforgettable, enters the movie as Uncle Boris only to exit as unexpectedly as he arrived. He talks to Sammy about being an artist, about having to choose art over family, about how Sammy loves that (the editing machine and film) a little more than his family. Hirsch’s screen time is limited, but memorable enough to have earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Of course, the real star of the movie is Gabriel LaBelle as teenage Sam Fabelman. He does a great job as a teenager who feels out of place in his new home and at his new school. He also has to deal with two kinds of bullies: Logan, the blond “all-American” boy who singles him out because he is new, and Chad, who singles him out because he is Jewish. The antisemitism he experiences in the early 1960’s southern California feels like a real threat (Logan really is no better than Chad); at best his Judaism makes him a fetish object for Monica, his Jesus obsessed high school girlfriend. The final confrontation between Sam and Logan is one of the most interesting bully-victim interactions I’ve seen on film. In a different film, this antisemitism would be the focus of the movie; here co-writers Spielberg and, recent favorite collaborator Tony Kushner, present it as an unsettling part of everyday life.
Composer John Williams, Spielberg’s favorite collaborator for 50 years now, turns in his most memorable score since Catch Me If You Can. Williams has long favored big brass focused scores composed in the key of G, like his themes for Superman or Raiders of the Lost Ark, but his score for The Fabelmans is piano based and gentle. Janusz Kaminski, Spielberg’s favorite cinematographer for decades, tones down his ostentatious style from last year’s West Side Story remake to create a memorable but not distracting visual style.
At times The Fabelmans feels episodic, as any life story or memoir would, but it does not feel disjointed. It is a long movie but I do not think I would want anything cut. The small idiosyncratic moments that seem disposable are what create an authenticity that turn these characters into people.
This is not a love letter to movies, though it is filled with an unparalleled appreciation for the craft of making movies. I must admit that watching Sam figure out filming techniques reminded me of my own time at film school. I remember the excitement that Sam felt being able to film for six minutes without changing reels or the possibility of using a 16mm Arriflex camera, which I never got to do. For these reasons, the movie hit me in a certain way that I know will not work for everyone else. However, the emotions and themes at play throughout the story of the Fabelman family are universal and what really make it a great movie; it allows for a personal connection. In the final shot, Spielberg shows a playfulness and sense of humor that I have not seen in any of his other movies and that has endeared him to me most unexpectedly. Previous Spielberg movies have played with my heartstrings to great effect, but none have felt as close to my own heart as The Fabelmans.
Nominees: Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner, producers
Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenplay: Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner
Cast: Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Gabriel LaBelle, Seth Rogan
Production Companies:Amblin Entertainment, Reliance Entertainment
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Release Date: November 11th, 2022
Total Nominations: 7, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Actress-Michelle Williams; Supporting Actor-Judd Hirsch; Director-Steven Spielberg; Original Screenplay-Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner; Production Design-Rick Carter, Karen O'Hara; Original Score-John Williams
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