We’re up to Best Picture nominee number six with a deeply personal film from Steven Spielberg, inspired by his upbringing and the beginnings of his love affair with filmmaking. I enjoyed the film and it’s clearly well made, but I’ll admit it didn’t really wow me.
At the age of seven, Sammy Fabelman sees his first movie, and his life is transformed. He’s obsessed with the train crash scene from The Greatest Show on Earth, painstakingly recreating it with his model train set and his dad’s camera. As he grows, falling deeper in love with movies and directing, Sammy’s mercurial mother encourages his creativity while his stolid father tries to tamper his love for his “hobby.” Between cross-country moves and bubbling family conflicts, Sammy clings to the pictures as something he can understand and control.
The most winning parts of the film show Sammy’s adventures in moviemaking, from the early home movies he films with his younger sisters to the ambitious projects he directs as a teenager. I really like seeing his ingenuity in creating his DIY special effects, and it’s neat to watch him grow in his knowledge of filming and editing techniques. Whenever he and his friends go to the movies, his friends are entertained as they alternately watch and joke around, but Sammy is captivated, the wheels in his head turning fast as he tries to imagine how he could create his own picture in whatever genre they’re watching, from war epics to cowboy flicks.
The family drama is a little less compelling to me. I’m not sure what it is—maybe the “been there, done that” conflict between the practical-minded dad and the artistic son, maybe the scenery chewing in Michelle Williams’ performance as Sammy’s mother—but whatever the reason, it doesn’t quite hold my attention like the filmmaking scenes do. This is where the movie really feels its length, and at two-and-a-half hours, I got antsy more than once.
Like I said, this is Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical passion project, and he’s nominated for both his direction and his original screenplay, co-written with Tony Kushner. At times, this personal aspect can make the film feel tactile and intimate as we watch scenarios too specific and implausible to be made up. But at others, I think it hurts the narrative a little, and we go down rabbit holes chasing memories rather than follow a clear plot direction.
There are plenty of fine performances on display here. Mateo Zoryan and Gabriel LaBelle both turn in nice work as Sammy, Zoryan delightful in Sammy’s young years while LaBelle takes on the heavy lifting in his teenage era. Paul Dano is nicely understated as Sammy’s serious father Burt, while Seth Rogen nails the “goofy” characterization of non-related Uncle Bennie. Like I said, Michelle Williams doesn’t fully work for me as Sammy’s mother Mitzi, and I came away a little surprised that she got a Best Leading Actress nod. To me, her performance feels overwrought—that said, I know how talented both she and Spielberg are, so I would imagine the effect we see is definitely what they were going for. Also nominated, for Best Supporting Actor, is Judd Hirsch, who makes a small but memorable appearance as Mitzi’s Uncle Boris.
Warnings
Language (including antisemitic slurs,) brief violence, mild sexual content, drinking/smoking/brief drug use, and thematic elements (including antisemitism.)
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