The Fabelmans (2022)

THE FABELMANS is a fictionalized, semi-autobiographical film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, about a boy growing up in Cincinnati and Phoenix who’s obsessed with making movies and wants that to be his career. Stuff happens, both with his ambitions and some domestic drama involving his family. That’s really the extent of the plot.

To get the negatives out of the way first, the film is long (two and a half hours), self-indulgent (there are a number of characters and scenes that come across as Spielberg getting even with people he holds a grudge against), and misfires badly at times (the scene where Sammy Fabelman’s new-found girlfriend tries to convert him to Christianity is pretty cringe-worthy).

All that said . . . Man, when the film talks about art and creatity and myth, and the conflicts between family and the passions that drive us, it really resonated with me. So much of the dynamic between Sammy and his family resembles my own life. The scene late in the movie where Sammy meets John Ford reminds me of all the writers I grew up reading, only to meet them and in some cases become friends with them later in life. I don’t want to make this post all about me, me, me, but maybe there’s some justification for that when I’m writing about a Spielberg film that’s all about him, him, him.

What I’m saying is that for all the times this film made me feel impatient or annoyed, in the end I loved it. It left me with a feeling of kinship. I can tell by reading the reviews that many people did not feel the same way. But it’s well-made, well-acted, and moves along at a pretty good pace despite its length. THE FABELMANS isn’t the sort of movie I usually watch, but I’m glad I did.