The Fableman's

⭐ 7.5/10

(Originally written by Tim)

This is an autobiographical movie by Steven Spielberg about a young boy who falls in love with making movies while his family falls apart.

I'll start with the bad - I can't stand Michelle Williams. She makes me cry thinking about her in Manchester by the Sea, good tears, but otherwise I can't stand her in movies. She is like what would happen if an alien saw a single movie from the 50s and then started acting. I find her voice annoying, and her facial expression scream Oscar bait. She plays the mother here in a critical role, and does a solid job, I just get very annoyed by her.

Otherwise I really enjoyed this movie. The engineer father vs the artist mother seems like a magical stew for forming possibly the greatest director of all time, and watching a young boy make terrific films for his friends and family is heart warming.

The movie becomes a high school drama at some point, which I didn't love, but his high school girlfriend has a movie-stealing scene that was equally hilarious and terrifying. I did really like the conclusion of that sub-story, and the power of movie making is powerful when you are in a theatre watching a movie.

This movie is very long and incredibly earnest, and that might not be for everyone. I don't think this movie would even make Spielberg's top 10, but it is interesting to se his take on his formative years, and it really is quite dramatic. I thought West Side Story was a stealth masterpiece, so this was a bit of a let down as a followup, but Spielberg is the apex movie director and he can do whatever he wants.