The Fabelmans

 

Score:  B+

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Starring Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano

Running time: 151 minutes

Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Steven Spielberg puts a version of his upbringing on the big screen in The Fabelmans, an Oscar-contending drama.  Audiences get a vivid and intriguing portrait of a young Steven (here known as Sam) and his family, with strong performances from parents Michelle Williams and Paul Dano.  But I feel that it puts too much emphasis on this fairly typical (if well-produced) family drama and not enough on the young lead's prodigious artistic talent.  It is certainly worth a night at the theater, however, and your own consideration as it vies for Best Picture.

In the early 1950s, Burt (Dano) and Mitzi (Williams) Fabelman take their young son, Sam, to his first movie in the theater.  He is transfixed by a train crash and becomes obsessed with recreating it.  Before long, Sam fills his childhood days with film projects.  As the family moves from state to state, due to Burt's rising star career in computer science, cracks begin to form in their tight-knit relationships.  Artistic talent runs in the family on Mitzi's side - herself a gifted pianist - but Burt, while kind and patient, sees little use in such unpragmatic endeavors.  Like so many young people, Sam is forced to choose between his passions and expectations.

The Fabelmans is a very well-made movie as expected from legendary director Steven Spielberg, but it's much different than his usual work and suffers - in my opinion - from misplaced focus.  When I think of Spielberg, I first think about movies like Jurassic Park, Jaws, E.T., and Indiana Jones.  While he's made plenty of more serious movies, too, from Schindler's List to The Post, The Fabelmans is much closer to a more standard Oscar bait-y prestige drama than anything I've seen from him.  Digging deeper, most of his movies are story-focused, whether it's on fantastic or historic themes, with well-shaped characters to give them strong humanity.  This movie is the opposite, focusing on its characters and treating story as an add-on.  To Spielberg's credit, and his co-writer Tony Kushner and the performers, those characters are well done.  I especially liked the family relationships and dynamics, ranging from Sam's filming with his sisters and friends, to realistic parenting, to standout work from Michelle Williams as Sam's mom and a small but scene-stealing role for Judd Hirsch as his great-uncle.

The main problem of the film, to me, is one of misplaced focus with the story - what is usually Spielberg's greatest strength.  Perhaps this is because The Fabelmans is semi-autobiographical; he may have been understandably drawn to the more influential parts of his own life.  But as interesting as he makes his parents' broken relationship, it gradually takes over the movie, pushing Sam's/Steven's filmmaking development to the side.  There are some intriguing ways that Spielberg combine the two, during a fateful camping trip, and the performers - even a surprising Seth Rogen - do a great job with it.  However, I would have much preferred seeing Sam, who is kind of underdeveloped despite this being a two-and-a-half hour movie, kept in the center and going deeper into the neat, DIY movie world that's tantalizingly introduced.  There are several side elements - tension with Burt's career path, and connection with Mitzi's artistry - that definitely work well, so the opportunities to keep family life involved but secondary were there.  Sam's experience in a new school in the last third of the film is the worst and most awkward part of the biography, a failed attempt to give him more to do.  Between it and the divorce plot, the movie is just too sad - another departure from typical Spielberg.  If only it had been more consistently like the movie's final scene, one of its best.  Sam gets to meet his filmmaking idol, and the encounter is funny, creative, and positive, if a little tense at first.  That's what I expect from Spielberg.

***

Now that Oscar nominations have been made, The Fabelmans is the first of the contenders I've gotten to see in the run up to the ceremony (though I also saw a few others last year).  The Fabelmans is the latest in a trend of directors putting their own childhoods on the big screen; the immediate comparison to me is Alfonso Cuaron's Roma, though I'm pretty sure there are others.  If anyone has earned the right to a little personal artistic indulgence, it's Steven Spielberg.  I don't think this type of film is quite his wheelhouse yet he has still made a strong film; I just wish it was configured a bit differently.  Hopefully there will be some more awards contenders coming soon - mixed with some midwinter surprises.  Until next time!

* By Internet Movie Database, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71702334

The Pale Blue Eye

 

Score:  B

Directed by Scott Cooper

Starring Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Lucy Boynton, Toby Jones

Running time: 128 minutes

Rated R

Long Story Short:  Christian Bale stars as the detective in this gloomy period mystery that, for most people, is a Netflix-only streamer.  Bale's co-star, Melling, gets the famous role of Edgar Allen Poe, and not only are both of them great, but the acting all round is impressive.  Unfortunately, the pacing of the film is not great and some of the movie's potential - in story and character development - is lost as a result.  Still, it's worth taking a shot on it at home, as long as you're not looking for fast-paced or action-packed.

In 1830, the hanging of a cadet at West Point brings detective Augustus Landor (Bale) out of retirement to find the culprit.  He soon finds the crime is even more unusual than first observed, and the military academy is soon on edge.  Another cadet, by the name of Edgar A. Poe, takes interest in the case and offers his help to Landor.  While Poe is very bright and has essential institutional and personal experience, Landor becomes increasingly frustrated as he finds much silence and deceit, and little evidence.  After another murder, however, the urgency of the case grows as well as the danger to both Landor and Poe.

The Pale Blue Eye is a solid, suspenseful period mystery, highlighted by its actors, but it's held back from the top tier by a plodding pace and character and story development issues.  One of the film's strengths is its atmosphere, provided by nice cinematography that has a (literally and metaphorically) chilly feel and a tone that provides a sense of foreboding yet not outright horror (though a warning, there are a few gruesome shots).  Unfortunately, the movie starts out quite slowly; it really could have used a nice opening hook to pull the audience in more quickly.  The intrigue does build steadily, though, especially once all the main characters are introduced, but in the final third of the movie, the pace actually gets a little too quick in a few important spots.  Even as the quality of the central mystery ebbs and flows, though, the acting is a pleasure throughout.  Christian Bale, the lead as the detective, is great, of course, in a fairly spare yet still entertaining way.  Harry Melling (nasty cousin Dudley from Harry Potter) is the surprise standout as the famous Poe, just a lowly cadet in this film.  His accent, style of speech, and subtle body language are all great and he strikes the right balance of being utterly confident in his intelligence yet at times reluctant or passive due to his low social standing.  There are plenty of fun supporting roles, too, from an at-the-breaking-point matriarch (Anderson) and her sought-after but independent daughter (Boynton) to the head officers at West Point (McBurney and Spall).

A good mystery reveals information - evidence, characters' relationships, etc. - at just the right times, to build suspense and keep the audience as highly engaged as possible.  Unfortunately, The Pale Blue Eye fumbles this a bit.  For example, there is a major twist at the end of the film and while surprising (to me), it both makes sense and has the potential for an emotionally impactful ending.  The problem is that we are given only the tiniest clues about this twist earlier in the film and, more importantly, insufficient personal development to prepare the audience and "earn" that final twist.  And while the Landor-Poe relationship is developed well, certain side characters - some of whom become crucial to the mystery - are introduced too late and their development is taken as a given when it really isn't, leading to that "did I miss something?" feeling.  The running time of just over two hours is in theory ideal, yet it seems both drawn out and rushed at times thanks to the pacing issues.

***

For the first (and probably last) time ever, I got to see a movie that was playing "only in select theaters" - thanks to the fact that part of it was filmed in my neck of the woods (including on the college campus where I work!).  So I must admit that I was a little distracted while watching it, since I was on the look out for scenes in places personally familiar to me.  When the movie ended, I felt rather disappointed but my opinion of it has improved as I've thought about it more.  Ultimately, I'd say it's worth watching, primarily for the really good acting, but a Netflix viewing is probably sufficient (even though I still am very much in favor of going to a theater to see a movie rather than at home...).  After this, I'm hopeful that Oscar movie season will finally get in full swing - and in fact, a major awards contender is coming to my theater next week!  So stay tuned, and check this one out if you get the chance.

* By Netflix - Netflix., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72253321