The Fabelmans                 4 ½ stars

Steven Spielberg brings his magic to filmmaking once again, this time in a personal way in The Fabelmans. This is the movie of this season that I have been waiting for. Based largely on Spielberg’s own experiences of learning to love making movies when he was a child, the film follows the childhood of Sammi Fabelman starting with his parents taking him to a showing of The Greatest Show on Earth in 1952. Sammi starts to film an electric train set using his dad’s 8mm camera and in doing so finds his passion. He is strongly encouraged to pursue his interests by a loving mother, Mitzi (Michelle Williams) who gave up a career as a concert pianist to be a suburban housewife. His father Burt (Paul Dano) is a computer genius in the days when computers were in their infancy. Burt is a committed family man devoted to his wife and children, but doesn’t quite understand Sammi’s obsession with making movies. He often refers to it as a hobby. Sammi may not understand it that well himself; that is until Mitzi’s uncle Boris (a wild-haired Judd Hirsch) shows up one day and tells him how his love of art will tear him apart! Then there is no stopping Sammi as he puts together stories on film using his local boy scout troop to make movies about the Wild West and World War II (his Daddy’s war). But the film is about more than Sammi’s love for movies though. At the core of it, it is about his family and about his mother’s love for him and their family. It is also about Sammi coming to realize that his parents are people too and that they come with all the imperfections of people. He must learn to love them in spite of all their faults, which I believe is the main message that Spielberg is telling us. Look for Spielberg’s personal look at moviemaking to make a run for a Best Picture Oscar and for another nomination for Michelle Williams for her portrayal of the mother. You should not miss seeing this one in the theaters where it is currently playing.