It’s not exactly a secret that Steven Spielberg believes in the magic of movies.
Every one of his films, from his best to his worst, is testament not only to his technical skill buthis rock-solid belief that, spliced together in the right order, a string of moving pictures canchange your life.
Like it did his. In “The Fabelmans,” a semi-autobiographical film, we see how Spielberg came to that belief. In some ways all of his previous films have built up to this, with their broken families and their yearning for home. It is fascinating to see what they led to. Exceptionally well made, tougher than you'd think in its depictions of a troubled marriage and full of deep performances—it's outstanding.
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Is 'The Fabelmans' based on a true story?
Of course it begins with a movie. “The Greatest Show on Earth,” as a matter of fact, which the parents of little Sammy Fabelman (Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord) take him to see in 1952. Sammy is afraid. It’ll be dark in there.
His father Burt (Paul Dano), a brilliant engineer, explains to Sammy how the technical aspects of movies work. He turns to his emotionally fragile but loving mother Mitzi (Michelle Williams) for a different take: “Movies are dreams that you never forget.”
And there you have Spielberg the filmmaker.
But the film isn't a recreation of his life. Instead, it's a story inspired by it.
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Seeing Spielberg's life as he chooses to remember it
Dreams can also be scary, of course, and the train crash scene in “The Greatest Show on Earth” does a number on Sammy. But rather than fret, he wants a train set — so he can crash that. Burt isn’t thrilled that Sammy is wrecking such an expensive toy. Mitzi suggests using Burt’s little video camera to record the crash. Then he can watch it again and again.
Perhaps you can guess where this leads. The film version of Spielberg makes a little movie of the train crashing. The real-life Spielberg makes the impending crash of a Lionel toy train as exciting and cinematic as any action movie.
If you’re looking for Spielbergian polish, that occurs when Sammy projects the film onto his hands, a creation myth for the ages. It’s sappy, sure, but it works.
This is one of the more fascinating aspects of “The Fabelmans.” We are seeing Spielberg’s life as he remembers it, and chooses to embellish it. (He co-wrote the script with frequent collaborator Tony Kushner.)
But we are also seeing his life as he saw it, literally, through the lens of the various cameras he acquires. It is an added layer of storytelling that, rather than creating distance, makes the film more intimate.
For instance, during a crucial scene when the older Sammy (now played by Gabriel LaBelle) confronts Mitzi, she demands, “Talk to me!” And so he does. By showing her a movie he has made. This is how he communicates with the world — still.
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What is 'The Fabelmans' about? Spielberg's life. But also movies
Burt moves the family to Phoenix for a better job. “A real neat city!” he proclaims. “It’s on the rise!” Accompanying the family is Uncle Bennie (Seth Rogen), who isn’t really an uncle but a co-worker of Burt’s and a family friend. He is particularly close with Mitzi.
The family takes to the state, but happiness is fleeting.
The Arizona segments weren’t shot in the state, and a street sign for Camelback Road and shots of the desert are about as much as Phoenix enters the picture. But Sammy learns some hard truths in Arizona, about his family and himself.
He shoots films with his Boy Scout troop, showing a preternatural talent. Though his sisters chide him — will you ever make a movie with women?
The acting is uniformly good, but Williams is exceptional, navigating a tricky role that requires her to be neither hero nor villain but something in-between, and all the more compelling for it.
“I will never leave Arizona,” Mitzi says, “and Arizona will never leave me.”
Ah, but she will. Burt moves the family to northern California for a new job, and the entire family is miserable. They’re one of the few Jewish families in town. An increasingly despondent Mitzi misses Bennie; she buys a monkey and names it after him.
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Sam (no longer Sammy) stops making movies, and is confronted by antisemitic bullies at school. But he also meets a girl, Monica Sherwood (Chloe East), a Christian fascinated by Sam because he is Jewish — a potential convert, she figures. And because he’s fun to kiss.
Sam will of course find his way back behind the camera. A visit from a real uncle, Uncle Boris (Judd Hirsch, exploding with oddball energy), who in addition to working in movies has also been a lion tamer, helps seal his fate.
Sam is an artist. He becomes aware of the power of that, and of the cost.
He also learns how film can shape lives. A wacko meeting with the great director John Ford (David Lynch — yes, that David Lynch) might have scared Sam. Instead, in addition to giving him some practical advice, it cements his resolve.This is what Sam will do, and who he is.
For which film fans can be thankful.
'The Fabelmans' 4.5 stars
Director: Steven Spielberg.
Cast: Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Gabriel LaBelle.
Rating:PG-13 for some strong language, thematic elements, brief violence and drug use.
Note: In theaters Nov. 23.
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.
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