Young Sammy Fabelman (Steven Spielberg) develops his initial fascination with film after seeing his first film ... Cecil B. DeMille's "The Greatest Show on Earth". It makes you wonder what his career would have been like if he had fallen in love with a film that has more to offer than a train crash.

I really enjoyed this film, but I confess that the deep love for it out there perplexes me. It's a deeply personal film, but not a very deep one. It's quite possible that I was expecting something somewhat different from this film, but it told me a story about young Spielberg discovering his talent at film while dealing with emotional turmoil in his family, but I didn't really feel any of it so much as admire it from a distance.

That's not to say that there isn't a lot to like about it. I think Michelle Williams and Paul Dano give really extraordinary performances, investing their characters with more depth than what's on the page. Judd Hirsch and David Lynch has wonderful cameo roles. It's a really beautifully crafted film, and it's nice to see Spielberg step into what feels like fundamentally new territory.

I just wish the film felt infused with the kind of love of film it purports to be about.