Steven Spielberg belongs to the generation that crashed the studio system to write the best American cinematic chapter: the New Hollywood; and yet it was Spielberg's seminal blockbuster "Jaws" and following hit "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (along with a certain sci-fi epic from his buddy George) that would bring Hollywood to its roots of a mass-entertaining industry, to which Spielberg became a household name.

Spielberg set the bar so high in the late 70s that -as his other buddy Marty said- he could only take a few steps back and jump over it again like a modern-day Walt Disney. So he made Indiana Jones and commercially dethroned "Jaws" with "E. T." After that, he proved to be as comfortable with the conventional drama through "The Color Purple" and "Schindler's List" but in 1993, he proved once again his cinematic flair, introducing CGI to a new generation of viewers with the revolutionary "Jurassic Park".

I am not his greatest fan but I do admire Spielberg's capability to remain relevant. Ever since "Jaws", he knew how to make the difference, to impact the audience, to whisper something very personal about himself while delivering a universal message. Now, watching "The Fabelmans" his semi-autobiographical film co-written with Tony Kushner, I felt that Spielberg maybe dealt with too personal a subject to be able to appeal to a wider range of viewers. I gather that after the recent loss of his father and mother he finally decided to pay tribute to his origins, a dormant idea since 1999 but the film doesn't add much than what a one-hour documentary could have done.

Still, to its credit, the film is a wonderful exploration of the exhilarating feeling of being a filmmaker: telling stories, creating something that would make all eyes converge toward it, with a dual level of excitement, one collective: giving people something to enjoy and one more ego-satisfying. Like Scorsese or Lucas, Spielberg was a weakly teenager who couldn't possibly shine for athletic prowesses or seduction skills and take it from someone who used to be a bespectacled awkward teenager, creation was an ego catharsis. I loved art lessons because girls would compliment my drawing and I will forever cherish the day I showed my comics to my all-time crush or when I saw the glee in my colleagues' eyes directed toward my Youtube montages.

As a former outcast, I could relate to any scene with Gabriel LaBelle as Spielberg's alter-ego Sam Fabelman whenever he was shooting, editing and showing a movie. There's an interesting scene later where the school jock Logan (Sam Rechner) asks Sam why he made him look so god-like in the prom-film (pulling a Leni Riefenstahl while filming his volleyball moves)... I could understand why, bringing the viewers to admire and venerate Logan, Sammy brought them into admiring his ability to do so, who is the God, then? That moment touched upon the essence of film-making. Long story short, every single scene involving amateur films might be one of the best recent tributes to cinema as an art, showing the exhilaration and agony in the making. .. and the gratification in the showing.

From young Sammy's epiphany while watching "The Greatest Show on Earth" and desire to replicate the train derailing scene with his toys to the tricks he used to simulate gunshots during a Western recreation with his Boy Scout mates, to the way he learned to suspend the viewers' disbelief and touch them with a camera panning on "dead" soldiers (foreshadowing "Saving Private Ryan")... you have all the processes experimented then mastered one by one. I truly enjoyed these moments as they encapsulate the idea that everything starts with passion but hard work must follow. For that, "The Fabelmans" fulfill its purpose. I'm not too sure about the family part now.

Paul Dano is Burt Fabelman, an introverted workaholic computer engineer who admires his son's dedication and Mitzi, the mother and pianist is played by Michelle Williams, and what strikes if how supportive the family is. It all comes down to viewers being asked to care for the parent's relationship and Mitzi's infatuation with Burt's friend and co-worker Bennie (an unrecognizable beardless Seth Rogen) and the ensuing psychological troubles. All the 'dysfunctional' scenes give a bitter and humorless taste to the film, making it more of a vehicle for Oscar nominations than the tale of how young Steven made his bones.

Many directors told their stories, Fellini with "Amarcord" or Spike Lee with "Crooklyn", these movies had style. Spielberg never knows the angle to take, he desperately tries to make "Cinema Paradiso" while losing himself into over-dramatization, while the film could have the edge of Woody Allen's "Radio Days"'.. I wish there could be a scene in "The Fabelmans" as cheerful and memorable as "The South American Way" moment or just a voice-over narration. The film had a few moments like these, young Sammy playing with his sisters or the little morale-boosting exchange with Judd Hirsch as Uncle Boris, but quirkiness has never been Spielberg's strongest suit.

By making a poignant family drama, he derails an interesting coming-of-age story for stagnating formulaic stuff. Even the high school sequence is a cardboard cliché-ridden vignette of 60s. As ludicrous as is the idea that Sammy would be the only Jew, victim of antisemitism (making you wonder why the American fought against the Germans) in a geek-less school and whose love interest (Chole East) only served for a too forced and embarrasing converting scene.

This was a passion project for Spielberg but the passion is almost canceledby too much pathos. Now, take the final scene with the cameo of David Lynch, I absolutely loved it, straight to the point and memorable. I also loved the voluntary glitch with future Spielberg walking toward the horizon in CBS studios. Spielberg could have made something incredible out of his story but I'm afraid he took our patience for granted.