2022 Ranking 

Whew! Lots of thoughts on this one and I am definitely looking forward to a rewatch because at its heights, so much of what Steven Spielberg does here is utterly magical. His craftsmanship in depicting the joys of Sammy's filmmaking endeavours is magical. Just filled with so much vibrancy and fun that when his audience claps, you want to join right along too; genuinely got quite emotionally invested in his creative pursuits. And I loved the eloquent way in which we witness the bonds, the loving but also tricky dynamic between the Fabelman family unit, the camping trip and subsequent editing montage being quite the highlight.

I adored pretty much every bit of the first half, and am somewhat mixed on the second half once they leave Phoenix and ol' Uncle Seth Rogen. I get the purpose of Sammy's high school life being focused on, with the bullies and the blossoming romance, but I have to say these sequences didn't really work for me in parts, though I think they are essential, the craftsmanship in it is still great, and it may be more of a personal response thing. Plus, there's still things I loved that were related to it, the prom film sequence is great. And of course, so much of what I loved about the first half is still present in the second half with the painful collapse of the Fabelmans, where Spielberg interweaves Sammy's journey with that of his parents' with what can only describes as a painful inventiveness.

Gabriel LaBelle carries the film wonderfully. Michelle Williams has some iffy moments here and there, mostly when she goes a bit too big, but the approach is right and when she's great she's really great. The whole ensemble has some strong work on the whole, but easy MVP for me was Paul Dano, whose quietly heartbreaking work is sublime, and the way Burt and Sammy Fabelman's relationship develops and unfolds into that brilliant final scene is probably the part of the film which struck me most to my core. The intro video from Spielberg at my screening thanked the audience for coming to see it in cinemas and yeah, worth the price of admission. Every technical element firing on all cylinders. Beautifully shot, amazing editing throughout. Use of music, both John Williams’ and the classical pieces, genius.

Mucho texto, I know! But really I'm not conflicted at all about the film, I love it, and though I have nitpicks here and there Spielberg's most personal film is one of my favourites of his in a long, long time.