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Hugo

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Lee, and Sacha Baron Cohen
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Screenplay by: John Logan
Based on the novel:  "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick

    I'd like to start this review by saying that if you had even the slightest thought that this would be a children's movie, you would be correct about the first third of the movie.  But I can promise you, that the other two thirds of the movie are nothing like any of Martin Scorsese's other films.  No, there are no mobsters and there is no violence.
    Hugo Cabret lives his life like a mechanic.  He lives in a Paris train station during the Interwar period in Europe.  Shortly before his father (Jude Law) dies tragically in a fire, the two of them work on fixing up a machine that seems like a robot, but all it's meant to do is write and draw, nothing else.  Even after his father's death, Hugo still is determined to get the machine working again, but he doesn't have all of the parts.
    So, to get the required parts and tools, he steals from an old man (Ben Kingsley) who owns a toy booth at the train station.  When Hugo is caught, his notebook full of what is most likely instructions on how to fix the machine (we never actually find out it's purpose), the man takes it away from him.
    Hugo finally meets, Isabelle, the goddaughter of the man at the toy booth.  She has the most essential part of getting the machine to work, a key in the shape of a heart.  The machine draws a famous image from one of Georges Melies's films, A Trip to the Moon (1902), one of the first motion pictures with a discernable story.
    With both of them having a strong interest in the art of cinema, they will discover something truly amazing.
    When I first saw the trailer for this film a few months ago, I thought it would be a children's movie, and was blown away by what I saw.  This is a story told from the point of view of a child who idolizes cinema and machinery.  The story changes from being about machinery to early film.  But this story is something that the trailer won't lead you to believe.  The trailer doesn't show you what the whole film is about.
    Everybody delivers strong performances, but the most noteworthy would be Sacha Baron Cohen in my mind.  I have finally gained some respect for him since he this is an actually serious role he is playing.  This isn't the same Sacha Baron Cohen who played Borat and Bruno just a few years ago.  He's serious, delivers a strong performances, but is still bad with women in this film.
    All I can say is that if you have even the slightest interest in film history, I STRONGLY recommend this film.  It delves quite deep into the life of Georges Melies, one of the first filmmakers ever, and his most famous film, A Trip to the Moon.  It's one of his only films that remains today.  This movie is fascinating to me because I learned about Georges Melies and his films a few months ago during my Film Studies class.  It's extremely interesting.
    I think I've found my favorite film of 2011 so far.  There's still one month to go in the year, so it could change, but for now it's Hugo.  It's another classic from one of Hollywood's finest directors.
    The machinery behind Hugo requires no fixing, so I'm giving it my highest grade of A+.  
   

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