No pun intended - and only funny I reckon if you know what Spiel and Berg means in German. Well I did lay it out for you in the summary headline. I try to read as little as possible when I watch movies. In this case it was inevitable to hear/read that the movie is about Steven Spielbergs youth ... and how he became attracted to movies and making them. The greatest show on earth ... I mean I guess it does depend on what you watch when you are young.

Steven was coerced (tricked?) into getting into this movie, by his parents. If we are to believe what the movie is telling us right here. I don't know what actually happened or how close to the truth everything is. I do know that if most of the things happened the way they are depicted ... than good ol Steve had quite the ride ... and quite the eventful childhood. And while certain things may have been luck ... others were determination.

A train wreck it most definitely wasn't - well you know what I mean (and yes another pun). While it may seem that he might have gotten more into trains as a child - his mother was responsible he got quite smitten by cameras ... well her and the fact his father had one.

Great performances to say the least. And relationships that ... were quite fragile. I did detect ... one of the major twists quite early on. I think it is quite easy to spot. So I am not saying or telling you that I am special. Steven really made it easy ... even if I thought, he can't seriously put this in there ... can he? And he did. Same thing is true about a bully .. where he kind of breaks the fourth wall ... a little bit. It is one of the biggest laughs ... but the movie is quite good at combining the fun stuff with the drama ... family life ... yes even he did not have it too easy.

The whole religious themed love story is also something ... where you can see that Steven is not about to give you everything squeaky clean ... like the first movies that he did ... quite brutal, quite violent. But always with a heart and soul. So you don't really have to be aware of Stevens filmography (though there may be some music cues considering John Williams scored this one too) to fully enjoy this ... just an avid fan of dramas and movies in general ... like Steven was and still is! Not just a nationalt treasure - but a worldwide pleasure!