Aarcflick

Director: Steven Spielberg Writers: Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner Stars: Michelle Williams, Gabriel LaBelle, Paul Dano The master of escapist entertainment gets personal in this 150-minute self-portrait, crafting a loving tribute to the complicated relationship with his parents that has informed much of his work. To what extent is Sammy Fabelman, the newcomer leading man in Steven Spielberg's new movie, destined to be a stand-in for Spielberg himself? The two share an upbringing, from an early move to Arizona to ambitious home movies with friends, to anti-Semitic bullying to a parental breakup. But Spielberg gives his on-screen avatar of him, played by Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord as a child and Gabriel LaBelle as a teenager, a name with storybook connotations as if to emphasize a distance between them as well.  The Fabelmans, which opens this weekend at the Toronto International Film Festival, may not be a fable per se, but it has a tendency to slide into the mythical. Spielberg i...