I imagine the reason people review this so highly is basically because it's a Spielberg film. Nothing more. Professional critics dare give it a low score which spills over onto IMDb reviews so of course everyone fawns over it.

It's basically a look back at Spielberg's own childhood and tells how he fell in love with film. In between all this is a family secret that's so obvious you see it almost immediately. I'm sure Spielberg loved to go back into his past and reimagine his child and young adulthood but for outsiders it's completely dull. It doesn't focus enough on the look and feel of the era, taking the viewer themself back to that time as Scorsese tends to do. No. It's just all about Sammy (Spielberg) and his idiotic dad, and crazy mum. Self obsessed nonsense. Total borefest.