Josh:
Despite the way I felt and feel about Jaws, the first movie I ever fell in love with, I’ve been a Spielberg skeptic for much of his career, but his late work has been outstanding, and there’s so much to love here, from its authentic Jewishness (it’s easily Spielberg’s most culturally specific film) to the amazing cast, to the respect the film shows for Mitzi Fabelman’s unconventional life choices, to a movie lover’s punchline, and the script is mostly funny and moving, though it does veer off into sentimentality occasionally, pushed along by John Williams’ increasingly syrupy score, and yet the filmmaking here is assured and joyous enough to overcome my reservations about Spielberg making another Spielberg film. ⏰⏰⏰⏰
Steph:
The Fabelmans is strongest when it focuses on Sam’s love for filmmaking, when it shows his wonder and curiosity as a child and his passion as a teen, but the only major woman character, Mitzi, is weird for no reason—what was up with the monkey—like eccentricity is the only way to portray someone who’s artsy or has an imagination (even the artsy filmmaker uncle was a freak for his 5-minute scene) so, ultimately, the film left me wanting so many more meta film moments and a little less music-crescendoing familial drama. ⏰⏰⏰
The Bare Minimum 