While director Steven Spielberg may be in his late 70's, he continues to produce incredibly crafted features that regularly get recognised in the major awards.
For me personally, I don't think he has made an all-time masterpiece for about 20 years. But as his back catalogue is unmatched for extremely high quality, it is easy to let that go and we can still appreciate what Spielberg continues to make.
For many including myself, he will forever be considered as the greatest film director of all-time as well as regularly collaborating with the greatest film composer in the form of John Williams.
They both return for what is simply Spielberg giving us his childhood and early life as an aspiring film-maker in the film medium.
For many that know his story of how it all began, the opening will have you giddy with excitement. It certainly had me with a big smile on my face.
Then once I got what was being told, I was then getting invested in what was a moving drama that shows the conflict between career ambitions and family life, coming of age and the love between a mother and her son. It is also Spielberg showing us how magical cinema was and still is to him and the translation onto screen was well executed and very relatable.
It moves at a really pleasant pace and gives several memorable sequences. The ending almost comes out of nowhere, knocks us back in amazement and gives us a wonderful moment that sees the beginning of an icon.
The cast do a terrific job right across the board. Michelle Williams gives quite possibly a career best performance. Granted it is a very showy role. But Williams makes the most of it and gives us a full range of the characters emotions. It certainly made for captivating viewing.
Gabriel LaBelle was a very capable lead and while he had help by the rest of the casts star power, there was plenty that solely required LaBelle and this was a breakthrough performance.
There were some nice standouts by Judd Hirsch and Seth Rogen. Hirsch may not have had much screen-time. But he absolutely steals every scene he is in. As for Rogen, he continues the trend of comedic actors being surprisingly comfortable with a more serious role. I completely forgot I was actually watching Rogen.
Paul Dano is as good as ever and gives great support to LaBelle and Williams in particular. There is one special performance at the very end that deserves props. But as it will spoil the ending, I'll just leave it there. With that mind, the final mention has to go to Julia Butters who continues to showcase her amazing talent at such a young age. Her breakthrough in 'Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood' now carries with her contribution in this. Be sure to keep an eye on Butters' future projects.
As with any Spielberg film, it's shot beautifully by Janusz Kaminski, the production design by Rick Carter is polished and the score by regular collaborator John Williams perfectly enhances every scene to the equivalent of sifted icing sugar on top of a cake.
I can confidently say that I enjoyed this. It might not quite be up there with some of Spielberg's mainstream popcorn flicks as it lacks those iconic moments and appeal for a mainstream audience. But the personal touch and heartfelt emotion this has makes it very rewatchable and another welcomed addition to Spielberg's already impressive back catalogue.
For followers of Spielberg's career, they will see a lot of what they already know. But seeing them manifest onto a big screen feature is an absolutely delight to watch and still feels refreshing.
But general fans who may not realise how to close this is to Spielberg's life, they will see a moving drama that can be as a story about the love between a mother and her son.
While I think a lot of us would prefer Spielberg to give us more summer blockbusters, these personal and more serious projects that he's been part of for the majority of the last decade still give us that magic that reminds that Spielberg for many is still the best.
Rating: 8/10
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