THE FABELMANS-Spielberg's Ode to His Family Is Shabby

THE FABELMANs is Steven Spielberg's close encounters with his love for his family, filmmaking and coming of age story.  For those who are not familiar with Steven Spielberg, you must be an extraterrestrial and I won't belabor Mr. Spielberg's illustrious film credits and awards that bridge generations of movie goers.  For most of the human race, the interest into Spielberg filming his adolescence and foray into the world of film seems ideal for adding to his omnipotent list of astounding adventure pics.  Unfortunately, THE FABELMANS is a disappointing foible to his prodigious body of works.  It doesn't work in sync with his body of riveting storytelling magic.  First, at 2 1/2 hours the movie needed editing.  I find this ironic since much of the film deals with a "young Steven Spielberg" a.k.a. Sam Fabelman (played by a starry eyed Gabriel LaBelle) learning the craft of filmmaking and editing.  The movie suffers from trying too hard to be clever.  Starting with the movie's title which is a play on words.  FabEL is a critical analysis of the plot of a play.  FabLE, is a literary genre: a succinct fiction story that leads to a moral lesson.  Succinct the film is not and the morals posed are ambiguous concerning adultery and religious fervor for proselytizing.  Sam's love for the creative lens of filmmaking provides him a prodigious insight into perceiving people beyond the veneer presented to the public.  Delving into the camera's objective focus proffered two troubling revelations that were particularly problematic.  Sam's epiphany of his mother's adultery was first discerned on film.  Sam's mother (Michelle Williams) is portrayed with a fickle and narcissistic nature which undermine her allegiance to her husband (played by Paul Danno) and family.  In his new high school, Sam's flattering filming of the school's athletic Adonis is viewed by its subject in such a mawkish manner to appear comical.  As director, Spielberg gets wonderful performances from many in the cast.  In particular, performances by leads Gabriel LaBelle and Paul Danno and supporting actors Seth Rogen, Judd Hirsch and Julia Butters and a surprise cameo by David Lunch.  There were many delightful scenes with Sam filming his affable sisters and friends who enjoyed the experiences of taking part in making movies.   Spielberg should've had a better bite into the meat of the material from which he wrote his biographic film with the aid of Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Tony Kushner.  I don't think it's safe to say this is movie making at its pinnacle.  Spielberg, you're gonna need a bigger, better bio pic for me not to lodge a complaint.