Have you ever come across a movie that on paper should be something you love? Well, The Fabelmans is a movie that I was certain I was going to love, but it ended up being just ok. The weird thing about The Fabelmans is that it is a movie that has really split the audience down the middle as there are some who absolutely fell in love with this movie.
How to Download The Fabelmans
You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. Check out also other films directed by Steven Spielberg such as West Side Story (2021) or Ready Player One (2018).
The Movie Review
As someone that grew up in the 80s, the work of Steven Spielberg was a huge part of my life. His movies are some of my all-time favorites and when I heard that The Fabelmans was inspired by the childhood of Steven Spielberg, I was sure it would be great. This was written and directed by Steven Spielberg and that usually guarantees a good time for me.
So, how to describe what this movie is? It takes place in the 50s and our main character is a kid called, Sammy Fableman. One day, his parents take Sammy to the movies and it is a life-changing experience for him. Sammy falls in love with cinema and wants to make his own movies and this is something he does and has a lot of fun with.
Now, surrounding Sammy and his growing love for filmmaking is a family drama. His family moves around a bit and there is a pretty shocking family secret that he uncovers as a result of his making a movie! I do not want to go into spoilers, but I found this part of the movie to be quite clever and it was really what added the “drama” to things.
I would say that the best way to describe The Fabelmans is as a coming-of-age story. As I said, the idea of a story being based on the growing up of Steven Spielberg is awesome. However, as someone that has seen a ton of coming-of-age movies, I can say that this one does fall flat!
I know! It is so hard for me to say that a movie written and directed by Steven Spielberg about his own childhood and his love for filmmaking is not great, but that is how I felt. This should have been so much better, but it just lacks that Spielberg magic in pretty much every regard!
There are so many better movies in this genre. I would much rather watch something like The Way, Way Back, Charlie Bartlett, or The Diary of a Teenage Girl if I wanted to watch a rather recent coming-of-age story. That is not even taking into consideration some of the classics like The Breakfast Club or American Graffiti!
While I found the movie to not be all that interesting a huge part of the problem is the over two hours run time. There is no need for this movie to last as long as it does and I feel that is why some people have said that it is boring. It just lacks any real excitement and when the credits started to roll, I was so disappointed.
Perhaps The Fabelmans is going to be one of those movies where I give it a second watch and I enjoy it much more. However, after my first viewing, I must admit, I was so unimpressed, I am not sure I want to sit through it again. I will probably have to leave this for at least a year before giving it another try!
