THE FABELMANS : Tuesday 10th January 2023.

I saw the M Rated 'THE FABELMANS' earlier this week. This American coming-of-age drama film is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Steven Spielberg, who needs no introduction. The film saw its World Premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival in mid-September last year, where it won the People's Choice Award, and its wide US release in late November. The film received widespread critical acclaim for the performances of the cast, Spielberg's Direction, the screenplay, cinematography, and John Williams' musical score, and was named one of the top ten films of 2022 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. However, it has grossed just US$17M from a production budget of US$40M. It has so far collected twenty award wins and another 183 nominations (many of which are still pending a decision) from around the awards and festivals circuit. This is a semi-autobiographical story loosely based on Steven Spielberg's adolescence and first years as as aspiring filmmaker, and is dedicated to the memories of Spielberg's real-life parents Leah Adler and Arnold Spielberg, who died in 2017 and 2020, respectively.

The film opens up on the evening of 10th January 1952, and a young Sammy Fabelman (Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord) is going out with his parents Mitzi (Michelle Williams) and Burt Fabelman (Paul Dano) to the movie theatre to see Cecil B. DeMille's 'The Greatest Show on Earth'. It is young Sammy's first experience of seeing a movie on a big screen and he is very apprehensive and a little anxious about the pending experience. His parents reassure him however, and we next see him staring wide eyed up at the screen, sitting almost motionless with his mouth agape. He is transfixed by the images presented in front of him, and in particular the scene involving a spectacular train crash. Asked by his parents what he would like for a gift to celebrate Hanukkah, he at first cannot think, and then the next day or so, pipes up with a train set. Late one night, while his parents are sleeping, Sammy crashes the train set trying to replicate the scene from the film. While his father is somewhat angered by Sammy's disregard for looking after his toys, Mitzi's understands her son's intentions. 

Mitzi allows Sammy to borrow Burt's 8mm camera to shoot the train crash scene again, just once, so that he can watch it over and over again, but not to tell his father. Sammy, with his new found love of the 8mm camera, soon begins making short films often involving his sisters Reggie (Birdie Borria, and played by Julia Butters as a teenager), Natalie (Alina Brace, and played by Keeley Karsten as a teenager) and Lisa (Sophia Kopera) in scenes set around the domestic household. In early 1957, Burt is offered a new job, and so he and the family, along with his best friend and business partner Bennie Loewy (Seth Rogen), move to Phoenix, Arizona.

Fast forward five years, and a now teenage Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle) continues with his passion for film making, shooting a short Western film with his friends from his Boy Scout troop, which ultimately garners him a badge for photography. Later, the Fabelmans, and Bennie, take a camping trip with Sammy capturing footage of their vacation. Shortly thereafter, Mitzi's mother dies with the whole family by her bedside, leaving Mitzi especially distraught. Providing him with enough film editing equipment, Burt recommends that Sammy should turn the camping trip footage into a film in an effort to cheer Mitzi up. Sammy objects over the scheduling of his next film which is planned for two days time with forty of his friends taking part, but Burt, who sees Sammy's passion for film as nothing more than a hobby, argues that the home movie is more important, and that he can shoot his war film the following weekend.

The next day, the Fabelmans receive a surprise visit from Mitzi's uncle Boris (Judd Hirsch), a former circus lion tamer and film worker. That night, he speaks with Sammy about compromising his family with his art, telling him that both aspects will continue to be at odds with each other. After Boris leaves, Sammy begins editing the camping trip film, during which he observes footage of Mitzi and Bennie sharing feelings for one another. This needless to say upsets him. After weeks of harsh treatment toward her and Bennie, Sammy and Mitzi have a heated argument, during which she slaps him across the back in a fit of rage, leaving a big red hand print. Distraught, Sammy shows Mitzi the footage on a separate reel of film. He promises to keep it a secret between them. 

In early 1964 Burt receives a promotion from work, requiring his family to move with him to northern California for a job with IBM. In order to keep their marriage intact, Bennie stays in Phoenix, but not before gifting Sammy a new film camera, which he promises never to use. Soon after arriving in his new neighbourhood and school, Sammy becomes targeted by students Logan (Sam Rechner) and Chad (Oakes Fegley), who say they hate Jews, blame him for the death of Jesus Christ and call him Bagelman. Sammy also begins dating the overtly-Christian Monica (Chloe East). While having dinner with the Fabelmans, Monica suggests that Sammy should film their upcoming Ditch Day at the beach. An argument erupts around the dinner table between Mitzi and Burt over the proposal, with Sammy abruptly standing up and banging the table with his fists for the commotion to stop. He accepts Monica's suggestion after she tells him her father owns a 16mm Arriflex camera that he would let him use, and the requisite editing machine.

After finally moving from a rental home to their brand new purchased home, Mitzi and Burt announce their divorce following the discovery of Mitzi's affair by Sammy, and Burt's suspicions, leaving the family heartbroken. At prom night, Sammy declares his love for Monica and asks her to come with him to Hollywood after graduating from high school. Unable to throw away her own life's goals to attend Texas A&M University, Monica breaks up with him. Meanwhile, the Ditch Day film is played in front of Sammy's peers, where it receives a rapturous response, seemingly praising Logan for his sporting prowess and denigrating Chad as a loser. Logan confronts Sammy, confused over his positive portrayal in the film, but the two reach an understanding when Chad attacks Sammy and Logan fights Chad off. The next morning, arriving back from the prom, Mitzi and Sammy talk about their future together, with Mitzi explaining that she cannot give up her love for Bennie, and that he should also not give up his love for filmmaking.

The next year, 1965, Sammy is living with Burt in an apartment in Hollywood. Unable to find work in the field of TV or film, Sammy considers dropping out of college because he hates it anyway, but Burt, reluctantly accepts his son's passion after seeing a photograph of Mitzi and Bennie together at a house party back in Phoenix, tells him to keep on his path if it makes him happy. Sammy finally receives a letter from CBS, offering him work on the upcoming sitcom 'Hogan's Heroes'. Knowing that Sammy is more interested in filmmaking, a network executive invites Sammy to meet acclaimed film Director John Ford (David Lynch), who has an office just across the hallway, and who is one of his greatest filmmaking influences. After lighting up a big fat cigar, Ford offers Sammy some sage advice about framing a scene. Newly encouraged by his brief five minutes with Ford, Sammy walks through the studio backlot on a warm sunny day, as the camera frames the horizon to the centre, contrary to Ford's advice which he said is 'boring', before ending by taking the Director's advice and re-framing the horizon at the far bottom, which is much more 'interesting', or at the top. 

'The Fabelmans' is Steven Spielberg's most intimate, heartfelt and insightful film yet, and here, once again, he has demonstrated his deft touch to be able to weave a personal story, keep it grounded and tell it in such a way that it will maintain your interest for all of its 151 minute run time. This film is a solid mix of family oriented drama, coming of age comedy, and part documentary that celebrates the early influences and inspirations that moulded Steven Spielberg into one of the greatest living film makers who over the course of thirty-four feature films and 50+ years has consistently taken his audience on a roller coaster ride exploring just about every film genre and the full gamut of emotions along the way. The cast here are on top form, including relative newcomer Gabriel LaBelle and also Michelle Williams (who endows her son Sammy with her creative side), Paul Dano (who endows his son with his work ethic) and Judd Hirsch (who offers up some pearls of wisdom in the less than ten minutes of screen time he has), and in defining their characters we learn what made the aspiring film maker come to master his craft, the personal challenges he experienced along the way and his motivations for never letting go of his dream. 'The Fabelmans' would easily rank amongst one of the top films of 2022, and is deserving of the accolades bestowed upon it. 

'The Fabelmans' merits five claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE GRAY MAN : Tuesday 19th July 2022

I saw 'THE GRAY MAN', Rated MA15+, at my local independent movie theatre this week, and this American action thriller film is Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo who have previously helmed four MCU films, being 'Captain America : The Winter Soldier' in 2014, 'Captain America : Civil War' in 2016, 'Avengers : Infinity War' in 2018 and 'Avengers : Endgame' in 2019, amongst other feature films and TV series. Based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Mark Greaney, the film went on limited release from last week before being released on Netflix from 22nd July. Costing US$200M to produce it is the most expensive film ever made by Netflix, and it hopes to start a series of films based on the eleven 'Gray Man' novels. It has garnered generally mixed or average Reviews so far. 

The film opens up in 2003 in a prison cell where Court Gentry (Ryan Gosling) is incarcerated until 2031 for the murder of his father. He is being interviewed, or rather recruited, by Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) who works for the CIA and recognises in Gentry the attributes necessary to turn him into a black ops mercenary, with the associated skills to take out all the bad guys on their hit list. Fitzroy tells Gentry that he can walk out of the prison in thirty minutes a free man, or he can serve out his sentence, and for what it's worth Fitzroy would have done the same thing as Gentry did that got him into the slammer in the first place. 

We then fast forward eighteen years to the present day. We are in Bangkok in a lavish hotel counting down the minutes to midnight on NYE. Gentry (now known as Sierra Six or simply Six) is ordered to take out a hit on a mark set to arrive shortly in time for the fireworks extravaganza. With the marks entourage in tow, and Six now poised to take the shot, he hesitates, so allowing the mark to walk outta there. But Six pursues his mark and what follows is a close quarter hand to hand fight on the ground floor amongst exploding tubes of fireworks. Six overcomes his mark, and as the mark lays bleeding out, he hands Six a medallion containing a USB drive, and says that he is Sierra Four, before he dies. Six gets the hell outta there, goes to an internet gaming joint and plugs in the USB, but it is heavily encrypted and without the necessary passcodes can't access what is contained therein. So, he is next seen posting it in a letterbox to an unknown recipient. 

Back in Langley, at CIA HQ, Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) another CIA Agent is being questioned by Denny Carmichael (Rege-Jean Page) her superior as to the role she played in the Bangkok hit, what if anything the mark gave to Six, and for her to very seriously consider her future career if he doesn't get the answers he wants. Miranda has an obvious dislike for Carmichael and gives nothing away. 

Meanwhile, Six hot wires a Tuk Tuk and calls Fitzroy asking for him to arrange for his extraction. Fitzroy has subsequently retired but still has connections and influence. His tells Six to get to Chiang Mai where an extraction team will be waiting with a cargo plane fuelled and ready for take off with a team of friendlies on board. 

In the meantime, Carmichael has recruited Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), a psychotic and torture loving former colleague of Six who lasted just five months in the service of the CIA before venturing out on his own and operating a seemingly very successful mercenaries for hire business. Hansen has kidnapped the young daughter of Fitzroy, Claire (Julia Butters) and is threatening to do all manner of nasty things to her should he not get the answers from Fitzroy, whom he also now holds captive. Hansen coerces Fitzroy in telling the extraction team to dispense with Six. And so whilst cruising at 25,000 feet and while Six catches up on some much needed shut eye, the extraction team spring into action with the intention of killing Six. But, needless to say this doesn't go according to plan, and more close quarter hand to hand combat leads to a stray bullet blowing a gaping hole in the fuselage, various bad dudes getting thrown out of the plane, and the aircraft steadily disintegrating as Six jumps out of it without a parachute before it explodes in midair. He of course glides toward a bad dude with a parachute, they fight in free fall and Six lands shaken but not stirred somewhere in Turkey. 

Next up Six goes to Vienna to obtain a fake ID and passport, but alas the local who is organising the said documents in secretly in cahoots with Hansen. He successfully manages to capture Six in a deep pit through a bullet proof trap door in the floor just about where Six was standing to have his passport photo taken. Six, using his best MacGyver skills, manages to create a flood of water so elevating him up the pit and rigs an explosive charge to detonate just at the right time when Hansen and his goons arrive at the scene. In the ensuing mayhem, Six comes face to face and fist to fist with Hansen, but on the way out of the building Miranda shoots a tranquilizer dart in the arse of Hansen, and then into Six before loading him up in the boot of her car. 

When Six comes round a short time later, Miranda and Six talk over their predicament and what their next move should be. It turns out that Six posted the USB drive to Margaret Cahill (Alfre Woodard), the former head of CIA Special Op's, who has now also subsequently retired and living in Prague. So, the pair head off to Prague, as Cahill seems to be one of the only people they can trust, and who would have the encryption codes to allow them to access what is contained on that USB drive. Meanwhile, Hansen is back in Croatia in a very lavish and very old villa tracking Six's every move. Hansen also takes the opportunity to interrogate and torture Fitzroy to find out his whereabouts in Prague, and who it is there whom he would most trust.

Arriving in Prague Six and Miranda meet with Cahill who tells the pair that she has terminal cancer and has been given three months to live. But that doesn't stop her from opening up the USB drive and revealing that Carmichael and Hansen have been involved in some nefarious crimes around the world as their own very secretive and covert army of mercenaries taking out the Who's Who of people of influence. Needless to say, as Hansen watches on from Croatia he orders his assembled team of assassins to converge on Cahill's apartment and wreak havoc with all manner of firepower. As Cahill remains in the apartment holding onto a hand grenade, she allows Six and Miranda to escape via an underground tunnel leading out into the street, whilst providing the pair with her armour plated bullet proof glassed Audi car. What follows is a blood bath in down town Prague, as Miranda evades various other vehicles behind the wheel of Cahill's car, while Six is going head to head and toe to toe with numerous goons inside a tram. It doesn't end well for the numerous local Police killed in the conflagration, the assassins who also meet their swift demise courtesy of Six, and the tram which ultimately hurtles sideways and off track into the sandstone columns of a building causing much destruction, on top of the trail of mayhem left behind in the wake of Cahill's apartment being destroyed. 

Next up we find our intrepid rogue agents heading to Croatia to take out Hansen once and for all, rescue Fitzroy and his daughter, and regain the USB drive which has subsequently fallen into the hands of Avik San (Dhanush), and Indian assassin working for Team Hansen. Six and Miranda go in heavily armed to the villa under cover of darkness and while Miranda takes out all the external gun placements Six concentrates his efforts on the internal goons and getting to Fitzroy and Claire. Needless to say its all in a days work for the pair who successfully overcome their foes, leaving Miranda to battle it out with Avik San, and Six to guide the Fitzroy's to safety, although Fitzroy takes a bullet to the stomach and orders Six to take his Claire with him, leaving him with a single hand grenade which he pulls the pin on when Hansen and three of his goons are upon him. Of course the blast takes out the three goons, but Hansen scrambles to his feet and continues to give chase, culminating with Hansen holding Claire at gunpoint inside a maze within the grounds, while Six trails behind in search. The three come face to face around a fountain in the centre of the maze, and Six tells Hansen to let Claire go, which he does, leaving the pair to fight to the death. In the end it is Suzanne Brewer (Jessica Henwick), Carmichael's off sider, who plugs Hansen in the chest with a bullet and kills him dead. She also plugs Six with a non-life threatening bullet wound, just to add to his stabbings, slashings and beating he took from Hansen. 

We then fast forward two weeks to a heavily guarded private hospital in which Six has been non-responsive, and Claire is being held. Brewer and Carmichael plan on paying a visit to Six, with the latter questioning Brewer as to why she let Six live. Because he's a valuable asset and one of the most capable operatives they have she responds. As they exit the lift, the pair are confronted with the bodies of several guards and Six's now empty bed. He is next seen in silhouette passing along the windows of the room where Claire is being held taking out a number of goons. He then enters the room, rescues Claire and the two are seen speeding out of the hospital grounds in a SUV. 

'The Gray Man', which for the most part I enjoyed, is a mash up of Jason Bourne, Ethan Hunt and John Wick with a little bit of James Bond thrown in there for good measure. It's an entertaining ride for sure with plenty of exotic locations, wide sweeping aerial drone shots, action set pieces, gunplay and close quarter combat, solid enough performances from the ensemble cast, and sarcastic quips aplenty to raise the occasional smile, but what it lacks is a fresh approach and sufficient intrigue to make this film stand above all the others in this increasingly overcrowded genre. Watch it from the comfort of your own sofa at home when it lands on Netflix this week, chow down on a big bowl of popcorn, leave your brain in the kitchen and strap in for a high octane super charged globe trotting journey that sees two Hollywood fav's go head to head. What's not to like?

'The Gray Man' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-