THE FABELMANS MOVIE REVIEW

It seems de rigueur for older directors to eventually come out with a tale about the bucolic days of their youth and their experiences that led to them being interested in film. Steven Spielberg making one (semi-autobiographical sure, but come on) is going to stir up interest. The Fabelmans focuses on a young “Sam Fabelman” (Gabriel LaBelle) who lives with his mother Mitzi (Michelle Williams), father Burt (Paul Dano) and three sisters. From an early age, learning the language of film becomes an obsession with Sam and he is encouraged by his family and boy scout friends who often help with his short movies. But all is not as rosy as it seems on the surface of this family. It’s through the process of learning about film that Sam begins to uncover a secret inside his family, and the processing of it would take (switching back to the actual Spielberg here) several decades and films to work it out. Ultimately, Spielberg has made a charming and not overly-dramatic bildungsroman here that decidedly is going to appeal to the fans of his career here the most, while dodging the bulk of meta-narrative you might expect. Chris, Wright, Marco, and Alan take on the challenge of decoding this narrative and largely come away pleased with it all. Even if they just want to make David Lynch cameo appearance jokes for longer than they should.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

DIRECTED BY: Steven Spielberg

STARRING: Gabriel LaBelle, Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Judd Hirsch, Julia Butters, Birdie Borria, Keeley Karsten, Alina Brace, Sophia Kopera, Jeannie Berlin, Robin Bartlett, Sam Rechner, Oakes Fegley, Chloe East, Isabelle Kusman, Chandler Lovelle, Gustavo Escobar, Nicolas Cantu, Cooper Dodson, Gabriel Bateman, Stephen Smith, Lane Factor, James Urbaniak, Connor Trinneer, Greg Grunberg, David Lynch, Jan Hoag

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

Christopher Lawrence Cox (Founder, Da Boss)

Born in the wilds of northern Virginia, Chris managed to put all of his survival skills to use and barely escaped with his life to Austin Texas in 1992 where ever since he’s dabbled in everything from plumber’s assistant to sandwich maker, from band to bar management. An opportunity to see theatrical release films for free by becoming a critic on a local public access show called “The Reel Deal” turned into a full-time job when Chris and his friends decided to take it to the internet. They built the site Spill.com, adding multiple podcasts and animated features, to no small amount of success. During this time, a fortuitous friendship sprung up between Chris and young Brian Salisbury, who was also a local film critic, and they merged their forces of will, and their laundry list of ideas for shows, to eventually build this community of critics. While Brian eventually followed his heart to a new family, Chris continues on with a cast of colorful folks from all over the country (and a few others). You can also check out Chris in his videocast, along with Martin Thomas and Danni Danger, that One Of Us does with our friends at Bell of Lost Souls: Crossover Event. He also regularly guests on the video game website Rage Select. Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook and check out his Amazon Wish List.

 

 

Wright Sulek (Screener Squad, Digital Noise, Highly Suspect Reviews,