The Fabelmans (2022)

 Pros: This is a superb film detailing director Steven Spielberg's origins, from his first taste of the movies at age five, seeing Jimmy Stewart in his clown make-up and the climatic train crash scene, he's mesmerized. From there his creative genius takes off, and he gets different amount of support from his parents. His mother, Mitzi (Michelle Williams) is terribly creative and emotional while his father, Burt (Paul Dano) is the more practical engineer. It is through Sam's (Gabriel LaBelle's) lens that we view his childhood, from the joy of creating films with his family and friends to the devastation of moving to California where he sticks out like a sore thumb to his disasterous first love and shock of uncovering his mother's affair with their family friend, Bennie (Seth Rogen), which is painfully obvious from the first time she sees him. It's almost as though she needs both men, Burt and Bennie in her life as they each fulfill different needs. It is an excellent film and the performances propel it to the next level. 

Cons: I honestly wish the film had ended with the breakfast scene with Sammy (LaBelle) and Mitzi but instead it continues on the journey taking us to LA the following year with Sammy meeting John Ford (David Lynch) though that tell us that horizons on the top or bottom of the screen make things interesting, but I felt it lengthened the film for no real good reason and took Sammy away from his family, when they are his rock. Still, that is my only true complaint.

Recommend: Yes, without hesitation

Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-Judd Hirsch was a wickedly good cameo as Great-uncle Boris who is top-notch in his one scene. 

-The young actors portraying both Sammy's sisters, peers, friends and enemies are just great including Julia Butters (nice to see you again), Oakes Fegley (great in Wonderstruck), Chloe East (who loves Jesus in a way that I've never seen before), Sam Reckner, and Keeley Karsten.

-Mitzi feels that getting a monkey would liven up her life and it does, probably not in the way she intended. I do wonder what happens to the monkey in the end.

-There are also a few minor inconsistencies with this film, Sammy's eyes darken from him as a little boy to a teenager and during the prom scene, Monica's (Chloe East's) carefully pressed hair, has a loose strand in one take but not the next, which is a nit-pick yet, I would be derelict in my duties if I failed to mention it. 

-Honestly, most of the kitchens were hideous but historically accurate. 

-Usually Mitzi uses paper dishes so they can just be thrown away so she doesn't ruin her delicate piano hands by washing endless dishes. However, the dinner scene toward the end shows them using china dishes, which is surely deliberate.