Hugo

Bottom Line: From director Martin Scorsese, what this film lacks in emotion and story, it mostly makes up in beautiful cinematography.

The Gist: The orphan Hugo lives in a train station in France, where his father used to run the giant clockworks in the tower. Spending his days spying on the inhabitants of the station and trying to fix a machine-boy his father found, Hugo makes friends with the grandaughter of the toy maker. The mystery they encounter leads to secrets about her grandfather and the very beginning of cinema itself.

The Verdict: Hugo is certainly worth seeing and comes from an expert filmmaker as his love song to cinema itself. However, lush and gorgeous as the film is, I did not find it so emotionally moving as many others did. If you love cinema as Scorsese loves cinema, it will be a near-religious experience for you, which is why it was nominated for an Academy Award. If you don’t, it will merely be a very good movie. Read my review.

Be Aware: Rated PG for some mild peril. Won’t be a problem for most older children.