“Spielberg is making a movie for young children,” writes Vanity Fair film critic Paul Mazursky, referring to you-know-what. “No Schindler’s List, no Munich, no Amistad. In War Horse, there is quite a bit of ET, a film that I loved. The epic moves on (and on), and I found myself increasingly itching for resolution. Come on, Steven, wrap it up, get the kid back with the pony.

“Is it bad? No, sir. It was clear I should’ve brought my 10-year-old grandson Tommy to see this film with me. I think he would have loved it. Spielberg is a master, as we know, of creating film energy. But here’s my dilemma: am I supposed to judge the film I’m seeing? Or the one I’m fantasizing? The artist, not the critic, has the supreme power of final cut. So go see this epic soap opera and you be the judge: should there be more opera and less soap?

“Just don’t forget to bring a child along with your box of Kleenex.”