Once on some TV awards program a decade or so ago Leonardo DiCaprio was presenting an award to Martin Scorcese. In his speech Leo equated Scorcese with the great geniuses of all time and said that Scorcese's name would be uttered in the same breath as Shakespeare and Beethoven.

From his seat in the audience Scorcese shook his head with embarrassment and disbelief. When he got to the stage to accept the award he disavowed DiCaprio's comparison and said that film is a collaborative medium calling for the contributions of dozens of creative talents from writers, composers, cinematographers, editors, etc. A director is not writing Hamlet or a Beethoven symphony.

I kept thinking about Scorcese's comments while watching this film. This movie is expertly made and I enjoyed it. But I also found it self-indulgent and ultimately shallow. Stephen Spielberg is talented, but he is not a complex or deep artist and thinker. And the story of his childhood/youth is actually kind of ordinary.

Though it all may be much ado about nothing it is still the work of a master filmmaker and worth seeing. The cast is fantastic. And Michelle Williams is a revelation.