Portrait of the filmmaker as a young man: Spielberg’s autobiographical drama fails to charm
“Movies are dreams that you never forget,” Mitzi Fabelman (Michelle Williams) tells her young son Sammy (Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord) en route to taking him to see his first film, 1952’s The Greatest Show on Earth. Had they seen The Fabelmans instead, however, perhaps Mitzi might have thought twice about her proclamation. With The Fabelmans, writer/director Steven Spielberg wants to create a nostalgic love letter to cinema, but the picture is too bogged down with the weight of Spielberg’s autobiographical angst to become something unforgettable.
