hugo movie review focus on the family

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• DVD & Streaming
• Action/Adventure , Drama , Kids

Content Caution

In Theaters

• November 23, 2011
• Asa Butterfield as Hugo Cabret; Ben Kingsley as Papa Georges Méliès; Chloë Grace Moretz as Isabelle; Jude Law as Hugo's Father; Helen McCrory as Mama Jeanne; Sacha Baron Cohen as Station Inspector Gustav; Ray Winstone as Uncle Claude; Emily Mortimer as Lisette

Home Release Date

• February 28, 2012
• Martin Scorsese

Distributor

• Paramount Pictures

Positive Elements   |   Spiritual Elements   |   Sexual & Romantic Content   |   Violent Content   |   Crude or Profane Language   |   Drug & Alcohol Content   |   Other Noteworthy Elements   | Conclusion

Movie Review

Hugo Cabret lives in a secret world. It’s a dank world of gears and steam and coal and levers and shadowy passageways that few even know exist. And he lives there alone … except for the fact that he’s actually never alone. That’s because this young orphan’s home is the most unlikely of places: deep in the heart of Paris’ bustling train station in the 1930s.

It wasn’t always that way, of course. Once upon a time, Hugo enjoyed the loving care of his attentive father, a clockmaker and museum curator. But when his dad is killed in an explosive accident, all the love and security the boy has ever known goes up in flames. Taken in and then quickly abandoned by his dissolute Uncle Claude (the caretaker of all the clocks in the depot), Hugo now tends to winding the station’s clocks while peering longingly through their faces at the bustling world beyond.

It would be a hopeless existence but for one important legacy his father left behind—an impossibly intricate, robot-like automaton salvaged from a museum. Wind it up, put an ink pen in its hand, and it’ll write … something. Hugo’s convinced that the automaton might, somehow, give him a message from his father. A message of hope that would help him make sense of his solitary existence.

Except that the automaton is broken. So when he’s not winding clocks and cribbing croissants to survive, Hugo steals toys from a shop in the train station and uses their gears to try to restore the automaton to “life.”

Soon the old shop owner is onto him, though, catching him red-handed. And that’s not the end of Hugo’s troubles: A station inspector named Gustav is determined to sic his Doberman pinscher Maximilian on every thieving, parentless urchin he can sniff out, then ship them off to an orphanage.

But Hugo finds an ally in the shop owner’s goddaughter, Isabelle, a wide-eyed, wonder-filled girl longing for an adventure like the ones she’s read about her whole life. And as Hugo and Isabelle piece together the mystery of the broken automaton, they stumble into an adventure that will unlock a closely guarded secret … and bring renewed hope and meaning to more people than just Hugo.

Positive Elements

Hugo revolves around overlapping themes related to the importance of friendship and family, purpose and imagination. When we first meet our young protagonist, he’s clearly resourceful and resilient, driven by his desire to restore his father’s automaton. But as Hugo secretly watches people in the station who are engaged in relationships—an old man courts an old woman with a particularly feisty dachshund, for instance—it’s equally clear how desperately in need of relationship Hugo is, no matter how determined and self-reliant he may be.

Relationship does come to Hugo, showing up first in the form of Isabelle, who becomes his fast friend and partner in adventure. And their childish affection is both sweet and necessary to both of them. (They hold hands after a traumatic event, and Isabelle gives Hugo a quick kiss on the cheek.) Next in line are Isabelle’s godparents, shop owner Papa Georges and his wife, Mama Jeanne. Papa Georges is a taciturn old man, but one with a spark of kindness buried below the surface. Instead of turning Hugo in after he catches him stealing, for instance, Papa Georges allows him to work at his shop to repay the debt.

Without giving away too much, Hugo’s quest to restore his automaton increasingly dovetails with a plotline about why Papa Georges has become so bitter. And Hugo’s efforts prove key to redeeming the older man’s sense of purpose and dignity.

Speaking of purpose, Hugo longs for that elusive quality as well. He intuitively senses his purpose probably relates to fixing broking things (“Broken machines make me sad,” he tells Isabelle). But he still wonders about his larger place in the world. He reasons that machines never have extra parts, that every part is necessary and purposeful. Extrapolating logically from that, he says, “I couldn’t be an extra part. I have to be here for some reason.” Though Hugo’s logic never wanders explicitly into theological territory, the point he makes does beg important questions about why we’re here and what one’s individual purpose might be. It also begs the question of our relationship with God.

Hugo fondly reminisces about how much his father enjoyed taking him to movies; his dad strongly felt that movies could inspire imagination and bigger dreams. As Hugo progresses, it increasingly pays homage to the imagination of early moviemakers and the ways they sought to capture elaborate visual exploits and special effects on film. But beyond that very Hollywood-serving sentiment, it’s also very clear here that good, gentle, engaged fathers are ultimately important to a child’s healthy development.

Station inspector Gustav, for his part, is conscientious to the point of being cruel when it comes to delivering orphans to the orphanages. But there’s more to his story: We finally learn that he himself was an orphan, and that his stint in an orphanage was what gave him a sense of purpose and direction in life.

We also watch as Gustav falls in love with a flower seller named Lisette and tries to work up the courage to talk with her. To do so he must overcome his self-consciousness about the partially crippling injury he sustained in World War I.

Spiritual Elements

A crucifix is briefly visible in Papa Georges and Mama Jeanne’s home. Hugo follows Papa Georges through rows of ominous-looking statues that appear to be hooded monks.

A montage of vintage Hollywood films contain images of mythological and fantastical creatures such as Greek gods, mermaids, fairies, dragons, etc. Similar images can be seen in a number of hand-drawn pictures that spill forth from Papa Georges’ armoire. Brief passing reference is made to ghosts.

Sexual & Romantic Content

Gustav has two short conversations with a fellow police officer about the man’s pregnant wife—specifically, who the father of the unborn child is. In one of those conversations, Gustav asks the man if he’s had “relations” with his wife in the last year. The answer is no, and Gustav concludes that the pregnancy is “suspicious.”

An awkward conversation between Gustav and Lisette involves him commenting on a cow’s “perfectly formed udders” while looking longingly at her. And after getting a new mechanical leg brace, Gustav says suggestively to Lisette, “I’m now a fully functioning man, aren’t I, dear?”

Costumes worn by women in the vintage films reveal a bit of cleavage.

Violent Content

Police find a dead man by the Seine. A fiery explosion erupts through a door, and we soon learn that it killed Hugo’s father. Twice Hugo finds himself on a train track with a fast-approaching train bearing down on him. In one case the train derails, ripping through the crowded station as folks jump out of the way. It plunges out a window to the ground below.

Hugo leads Gustav and his trusty canine, Maximilian, on two raucous, disruptive chases through the station, pursuits that often involve people being shoved out of the way. Gustav’s leg brace accidentally gets hitched to a train, dragging him along the ground with one leg in the air until he bangs unceremoniously into stacked luggage on the platform.

The old films contain mock violence, including warriors using spears to attack a huge, fire-breathing dragon prop. Several of the reels include pyrotechnics.

Crude or Profane Language

No profanities or vulgarities. Gustav calls Uncle Claude an “oaf” and a “bloated buffoon.”

Drug & Alcohol Content

Uncle Claude is obviously a drunk, and we see him knocking back the contents of a flask. People drink wine in cafés and at a party. There are a handful of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them shots of characters smoking.

Other Noteworthy Elements

Hugo repeatedly steals food (croissants, milk) to sustain himself; the film depicts this habit more as a necessity for survival than as evidence of a deficient character. The boy also pilfers toys from Papa Georges, thefts driven by his desire to obtain gears from them to repair the automaton. (Eventually, of course, Papa Georges catches him.)

Isabelle lies to Gustav about Hugo’s identity, saying he’s a country cousin. When Hugo picks the lock of a theater’s back door so he and Isabelle can sneak in and watch a movie, she says, “We could get into trouble.” Hugo replies, “That’s how you know it’s an adventure.” (The theater’s proprietor soon notices them, saying, “How did you rats get in here?” before tossing them out and warning them not to come back.)

Martin Scorsese has directed more than 50 films to date, including some of the most critically acclaimed releases in Hollywood history. The American Film Institute’s list of the Top 100 films of all time, in fact, includes no fewer than three of his movies ( Raging Bull, Taxi Driver and Goodfellas ). In 2007, Scorsese took home a Best Director Oscar for The Departed , a film that also won Best Picture.

Astute film fans, however, will also note that the majority of Scorsese’s efforts—including all of those listed above, as well as the relatively recent  Shutter Island and Gangs of New York —have been rated R for violence, obscenities and nudity. Which means that while this famed director’s efforts have often been critical darlings, they’ve been inaccessible to family audiences.

So what happens when a guy whose storytelling style is practically synonymous with gritty content decides to make a movie based on a popular children’s story (Brian Selznick’s 2007 book The Invention of Hugo Cabret )? Well. What happens is nothing short of mesmerizing.

Hugo is one of those rare films that works on practically every level … for practically every audience. Visually, Scorsese’s first foray into 3-D filmmaking is a sumptuous masterpiece. His rendering of Paris, of Hugo’s essentially subterranean environs and of his characters’ expressions make this film a case study in cinematic excellence.

Longtime movie critic Roger Ebert writes, “ Hugo is unlike any other film Martin Scorsese has ever made, and yet possibly the closest to his heart: a big-budget, family epic in 3-D, and in some ways, a mirror of his own life. We feel a great artist has been given command of the tools and resources he needs to make a movie about—movies.”

Better yet, those tools and resources stand in the service of a story that’s equal parts endearing and inspiring. Friendship and family, perseverance and hope all take center stage in this touching tale. It’s delightfully sentimental stuff without ever feeling cloying.

I’ll ask again, What happens when Martin Scorsese sets out to make something … completely different? Hugo feels like a throwback to many of the beloved films of yesteryear. And at the same time, it serves as a powerful reminder that there are filmmakers in Hollywood who have the capacity to tell a spellbinding story without indulging in R-rated excess or crassly capitulating to commercialism.

They just have to choose to do so.

Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

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Scorsese meets the sorcerer of cinema

Asa Butterfield and Chloë Grace Moretz in "Hugo."

“Hugo” is unlike any other film Martin Scorsese has ever made, and yet possibly the closest to his heart: a big-budget, family epic in 3-D, and in some ways, a mirror of his own life. We feel a great artist has been given command of the tools and resources he needs to make a movie about — movies. That he also makes it a fable that will be fascinating for (some, not all) children is a measure of what feeling went into it.

In broad terms, the story of his hero, Hugo Cabret, is Scorsese’s own story. In Paris of the ’30s, and schooling himself in the workings of artistic mechanisms. That runs in the family. Hugo’s uncle is in charge of the clocks at a cavernous Parisian train station. And his father’s dream is to complete an automaton, an automated man he found in a museum. He dies with it left unperfected.

Rather than be treated as an orphan, the boy hides himself in the maze of ladders, catwalks, passages and gears of the clockworks themselves, keeping them running right on time. He feeds himself with croissants snatched from station shops and begins to sneak off to the movies.

His life in the station is made complicated by a toy shop owner named Georges Melies. Yes, this grumpy old man, played by Ben Kingsley , is none other than the immortal French film pioneer, who was also the original inventor of the automaton. Hugo has no idea of this. The real Melies was a magician who made his first movies to play tricks on his audiences.

Leave it to Scorsese to make his first 3-D movie about the man who invented special effects. There is a parallel with the asthmatic Scorsese, living in Little Italy but not of it, observing life from the windows of his apartment, soaking up the cinema from television and local theaters, adopting great directors as his mentors, and in the case of Michael Powell , rescuing their careers after years of neglect.

The way “Hugo” deals with Melies is enchanting in itself, but the film’s first half is devoted to the escapades of its young hero. In the way the film uses CGI and other techniques to create the train station and the city, the movie is breathtaking. The opening shot swoops above the vast cityscape of Paris and ends with Hugo ( Asa Butterfield ) peering out of an opening in a clock face far above the station floor. We follow his Dickensian adventures as he stays one step ahead of the choleric Station Inspector ( Sacha Baron Cohen ), in chase sequences through crowds of travelers. Hugo always manages to escape back to his refuge behind the walls and above the ceiling of the station.

His father ( Jude Law ), seen in flashbacks, has left behind notebooks, including his plans to finish the automaton. Hugo seems somewhat a genius with gears, screws, springs and levers, and the mechanical man is himself a steampunk masterwork of shining steel and brass.

One day Hugo is able to share his secret with a girl named Isabelle ( Chloe Grace Moretz ), who also lives in the station, and was raised by old Melies and his wife. She is introduced to Hugo’s secret world, and he to hers — the books in the cavernous libraries she explores. These two bright kids are miles apart from the cute little pint-sized goofballs in most family pictures.

For a lover of cinema, the best scenes will come in the second half, as flashbacks trace the history and career of Georges Melies. you may have seen his most famous short film, “A Trip to the Moon” (1902), in which space voyagers enter a ship that is shot from a cannon toward the moon; the vessel pokes the Man in the Moon in the eye.

Scorsese has made documentaries about great films and directors, and here he brings those skills to storytelling. We see Melies (who built the first movie studio) using fantastical sets and bizarre costumes to make films with magical effects ­— all of them hand-tinted, frame by frame. And as the plot makes unlikely connections, the old man is able to discover that he is not forgotten, but indeed is honored as worthy of the Pantheon.

Not long ago, I saw a 3-D children’s film about penguins. I thought it was a simpleminded use of the medium. Scorsese uses 3-D here as it should be used, not as a gimmick but as an enhancement of the total effect. Notice in particular his re-creation of the famous little film “Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat” (1897), by the Lumiere brothers. You’ve probably heard its legend: As a train rushes toward the camera, the audience panics and struggles to get out of its way. That is a shot which demonstrates the proper use of 3-D, which the Lumieres might have used had it been available.

“Hugo” celebrates the birth of the cinema and dramatizes Scorsese’s personal pet cause, the preservation of old films. In one heartbreaking scene, we learn that Melies, convinced his time had passed and his work had been forgotten, melted down countless films so that their celluloid could be used to manufacture the heels of women’s shoes. But they weren’t all melted, and at the end of “Hugo, ” we see that thanks to this boy, they never will be. Now there’s a happy ending for you.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Jude Law as Hugo's Father
• Christopher Lee as Monsieur Labisse
• Asa Butterfield as Hugo Cabret
• Ray Winstone as Uncle Claude
• Richard Griffiths as Monsieur Frick
• Helen McCrory as Mama Jeanne
• Emily Mortimer as Lisette
• Michael Stuhlbarg as Rene Tabard

Screenplay by

Directed by.

• Martin Scorsese

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John Krasinski & Natalie Portman Search For The Fountain Of Youth In First Images From Guy Ritchie's New Movie

Wicked movie box office passes rare milestone only accomplished by 3 other movies this year, jurassic world rebirth: scarlett johansson & jonathan bailey explore dangerous locations in new images, scorsese's ode to the medium he loves so dearly will still be as poignant, rich and vital so long as film itself remains so..

Hugo is most definitely a Martin Scorsese film, and one of the better ones at that. But more than anything else, Hugo is a movie about the love of movies, crafted by a man who truly loves moviemaking, and meant for those who in turn love the art, spectacle, imagination, and soul-stirring joy of cinema.

In short: Hugo is another Martin Scorsese masterpiece.

The film has been sold as a "family-friendly adventure" full of whimsy and spectacle, and for the first act of Hugo's two-hour runtime, this is absolutely true. The story opens on 1930s Paris, where we meet young Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), the orphaned son of a clock maker, living in the walls of a train station where he fixes and maintains the many clocks that need attendance. Hugo's father perished in a fire, leaving behind the mystery of a strange automaton that Hugo obsessively tries to fix, as was his father's wish. The boy's unfaltering quest brings him into contact with many colorful characters around the station, including the orphan-hunting inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen), a curmudgeonly old toy maker (Ben Kingsley), and eventually the toy maker's bookworm goddaughter, Isabelle (Chloe Moretz). However, the quest to fix the automaton is only the first piece in a much larger mystery - one that involves a long-lost filmmaker, and a convergence of lives and destinies that will bring together all those who encounter young Hugo Cabret.

As stated,  Hugo  may at first seem like it is simply 'Martin Scorsese making a 3D kids movie,' but once the automaton is completed and the larger mystery revealed, it quickly becomes apparent what drew Scorsese to this film (based on the 2007 historical fiction book,  The Invention of Hugo Cabret  by Brian Selznick). But  Hugo  is not a kid's film.  Hugo  is not even really a film for mainstream audiences.  Hugo is, in large part, a celebration of the early era of cinema, centered around real-life pioneer filmmaker, Georges Méliés. It is this unabashed joy and celebration of movie magic that elevates Hugo  as one of Scorsese's most lovingly-crafted and imaginative films. It is also what will make Hugo  a bit too heady and artistic for those hoping for a more mainstream adventure.

Screenwriter John Logan ( Gladiator ,  The Last Samurai ) skillfully adapts Selznick's novel into a film that works on a multitude of levels, offering one of the richest, most rewarding cinematic experiences I've had in a while. There is something for everyone to grasp onto and be moved by in this film - be it the idea of adventure and destiny (kids); the exploration of that in life which "breaks" us, and in turn, "fixes" us again (adults); or simply the meditation on what makes movies truly wondrous and transcendent (cinephilles). It's all there in the story of Hugo's journey - a journey that the script steers the viewer through with careful control and near perfect synergy of its respective parts.

The genius of what Scorsese has done, from a directing standpoint, is to craft a love letter to cinema's past in the form of cinema's present (and arguably its future): digital 3D. Hugo is the most accomplished and worthwhile 3D film I have seen - and yes, that includes James Cameron's Avatar , the film which resurrected the 3D trend. Where Cameron used 3D as a highly effective and captivating tool of spectacle, Scorsese is the one who as officially elevated the technique to the level of high art.

From the onset, it is clear (in the choices of scene construction, set pieces, and photography) that Hugo  is the work of a master filmmaker embracing a modern trend in filmmaking. Instead of using 3D as a gimmick, or even an augmentation of his already considerable skills, Scorsese boldly explores the new and unique filming possibilities offered by the medium. At times this movie is simply beautiful to behold (early scenes in the train station  come to mind), while at other times, the filming choices Scorsese makes are stimulating and provocative in their originality and creativity (later scenes set during the early days of silent filmmaking are, ironically, some of the best modern 3D scenes ever shot).

In short: with Hugo , Scorsese single-handedly makes a case for why 3D is worthy of living beyond the lifespan of a trend, as well as setting a new bar for what filmmakers should endeavor to accomplish with the format.

Of course, no movie would hold itself upright without a cast of talented performers to bring it to life.  Scorsese's name clearly commands a high level of respect in the industry, as even the smallest roles in Hugo are populated by some accomplished acting talent. There are appearances by Jude Law, Ray Winstone, Christopher Lee, Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths, Emily Mortimer and Michael Stuhlbarg - all of whom are bit players in this film, but manage to create vivid and lively characters, no matter how small their role. Every person we meet is an important cog in the narrative machine.

The central adult characters are also wonderfully realized, with Helen McCrory ( Harry Potter ) delivering great understated pain and longing as the toy maker's loving wife; Ben Kingsley once again proving why he is one of the best actors there is, putting on a full display of emotion and complexity as the toy maker with a mysterious past; and even Sacha Baron Cohen showing that his comedic identities as  Borat or Bruno  are but exaggerated expressions of his true acting talents. Cohen's arc as the station inspector is one of the more subtle (yet moving) performances - one that starts off seemingly one-note (comedic relief), but comes to a resounding finish that is in perfect fit with the many layered themes of the story.

As for the young leads: Chloe Moretz is already an established star, having broken in stardom via films like  (500) Days of Summer ,  Kick-Ass , and her leading role as a savage vampire in  Let Me In . As the precocious Isabelle, she is a perfect foil for Hugo - and though she is more reserved than usual in this film, the scenes of her and Butterfield going through the slightly awkward motions of boy/girl politics makes for some of the movie's most endearing moments. Like Hugo, Isabelle is also an orphan, and the movie lightly touches on some serious subjects like death and loss, which Moretz is deftly able to deliver in a mature-but-not-too-heavy manner.

It seems safe to say that Asa Butterfield ( Son of Rambow ) has achieved a breakout success playing the titular Hugo. The opening of this film is an ode to the old silent movies it celebrates, and involves Butterfield onscreen for a good ten minutes without uttering a single word. Even without the crutch of dialogue to lean on, Butterfield manages to instantly establish Hugo's presence and character, through skilled expressiveness and body language that most adult actors might struggle with. Later on, when he's required to carry scenes of powerful emotionality, Butterfield again rises to the task set before him, making some of the story's heavier themes and moments truly great and moving. Definitely a young star in the making.

Aside from its gorgeous 3D imagery, Hugo is not a film that bends to the tastes and trends of the times. The film sets its own pace and takes its sweet time building its story arc, subplots, character developments and themes - unafraid of catering to shallow desires for speedy payoff or empty spectacle. While that slower pace, and the sudden change of focus in the second act, may disappoint those who have been lured by the film's '3D kids movie' marketing (or even bore kids too young to understand the headier themes), there is no doubt that this is a film whose achievements will last well beyond the now. Indeed, Scorsese's ode to the medium he loves so dearly will still be as poignant, rich and vital so long as film itself remains so.

Heck, by the time this movie hits home video, I may have  to go out and buy a 3D TV, just to be able to recapture the full experience of seeing it. One of the year's best films, in my opinion.

Hugo is now playing in theaters everywhere. Check out the trailer for the film, and rate it for yourself in our poll below:

[poll id="218"]

Based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Hugo follows the titular character, a young boy living alone in a train station in Paris. While working to restore an automaton found by his late father, Hugo becomes involved in a mystery surrounding the automaton and filmmaker Georges Méliès. Asa Butterfield stars as Hugo, with Chloë Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Jude Law as part of the main cast. 

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Reviewed by: Patty Moliterno CONTRIBUTOR

orphans in the Bible

living a secret life

stealing / thieves

automatons, robots

“Unlock the secret”

“H ugo” is based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. I read the book with my 8 year old son last year, and we both loved, loved, loved it. We couldn’t wait until the movie came out! We went to the midnight showing on opening day, and what we found far surpassed our expectations. The movie was directed by Martin Scorcese. It is his first PG movie in 18 years, but it is as if has been saving up for this ultimate moment. The film also features a cast of characters not usually seen in family movies.

Hugo, played by Asa Butterfield (“ The Boy in the Striped Pajamas ”), is a young boy whose mother is dead . He is being raised by his father who is a clockmaker. His father works at a museum in Paris and finds a wonderful old mechanical piece. It is an automaton (self-operating machine) man. It is broken, but the boy and his father begin to fix it.

One day, Hugo receives a surprise visit from his drunk Uncle Claude who tells him there was a fire at the museum. His father is dead , and he is to come live at the train station and work with his uncle as a clock apprentice. The only item Hugo takes is the automaton.

After a while, his uncle does not come home, and Hugo secretly continues to care for the clocks in the train station. He is constantly stealing food to feed himself, while keeping out of the way of the Station Inspector ( Sacha Baron Cohen ). He also steals parts from the toy shop run by Georges Méliès ( Ben Kingsley ) and befriends his goddaughter, Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz). Eventually, Georges catches Hugo stealing parts and makes him work at the toy store as repayment. Hugo never gives up his quest to repair the broken automaton, in the hopes that it will reveal a message from his father. When he finally repairs it, it leads him back to the unlikeliest source.

NEGATIVE CONTENT: This was one of the cleanest movies I have ever seen. There is absolutely no foul language. There is very little to be concerned about, as far as content. The Station Inspector does make a few suggestive comments. This is a man who is angry, bitter, lonely and dealing with a war injury. His comments include “when was the last time you had relations with her?,” “perfectly formed udders,” and “I’m a fully functioning man now” (when his leg is fixed). There is also a brief discussion of whether a man’s pregnant wife is carrying his child.

Hugo does steal to eat and fix the automaton. He also lies to protect himself. Hugo’s father dies in a fire, however, all that is shown on screen is his father opening a door and flames rushing down a hallway. His uncle is found dead in the river; very little is shown on screen. There are several chase scenes between Hugo, the Station Inspector and his Doberman. Hugo does have a scary dream that looks very real.

In clips shown of old films, there are dragons, mythical beasts, mermaids, etc. I did not find these to be scary at all. There are also scenes involving trains crashing through the train station.

POSITIVE CONTENT: This is the first 3D movie I have seen in over a year. I cannot stand to pay the additional money for a film when it is not necessary. I really enjoyed this film in 3D. This film was beautifully done. The quality of the filming is superb. The acting is great, and the visual effects are wonderful. I cannot say enough good things about this movie.

Hugo states “I had to be here for some reason, and that means you have to be here for some reason, too.” He holds onto that belief. However, be advised there is no indication that his belief is based on God’s teachings. As a Christian, I also believe I am created for a reason. The Bible says “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works , which God prepared in advance for us to do” — Ephesians 2:10 .

The other thing that I find significant in this film is the machine itself. We believe that we are so advanced and so smart, however, the Bible does say “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” — Ecclesiastes 1:9 . Early mechanical machines were made in Ancient Greece. There is a machine like the one in this movie at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia believed to date to 1800. I love watching films like this and then researching more. See the Franklin Institute for information about the automaton.

Additionally, Georges Méliès was a real French filmmaker. Ben Kingsley does a wonderful job of capturing Georges’ likeness.

I recommend this film for the whole family. Be advised that some children may find some scenes frightening, and there are periods of the movie that move slower than a traditional childrens film. I did not take my 7 year old for this reason. This is one of the nicest movies we have seen in a long time. A film that gets the family talking about history, inventions and God is a great one in my book!

Violence: Minor / Profanity: None / Sex/Nudity: None

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The characters are delightful such as Sacha Baron Cohen’s Station Inspector, who in a nuanced performance plays a range of traits from that of a dutiful and mean officer to an understanding and compassionate romantic. He injured his leg in the war and wears a creaky brace until Hugo fixes it for him, making it quieter as he bends and walks. The inspector finds a soul mate in the film and the movie features more of these magical moments which make watching the film such a joy. We learn a few things about Melies in this picture, including the fact that some eighty of his lost films were eventually discovered. In one delightful scene several snippets of old silent films are screened and the imagination of George Melies is clearly seen. It should be noted that the 3D version is spectacular with falling snow brushing up against the viewer’s face and a dog eyeing viewers face to face. These are just a few of the “wow” moments.

We are more than pleased to award our Dove “Family-Approved” Seal to this film. See “Hugo” with your family this holiday season and you will find magic in the movies once more!

Dove Rating Details

A dog chases a boy on a few occasions; a man falls during a chase; a man's leg is caught on a train and he is pulled for a distance; an out-of-control fire rushes at a character; a dog nips a man's ankle; a guard catches a boy's foot with a strap and takes him to an orphanage; a boy in frustration throws things; a few archive film shorts of World War ll; a man chases a boy and boy steps outside of tall building and holds onto a clock at a great height; a chair breaks with a character standing on it but no one is hurt; a train is seen crashing into a building.

A few scenes of characters smoking including a cigar and what looked like a cigarette; smoking in a club and wine is seen in a club; drinking; a character asks, "Are you drunk?"

A few women seen in tight clothing and shorts.

A boy who is hungry steals bread; a character dies and his son grieves; some papers seem to magically fly out of a box.

More Information

Film information, dove content.

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Hugo: film review.

The dazzling family friendly film opens Nov. 23 via Paramount.

By Todd McCarthy

Todd McCarthy

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Hugo Film Still Paramount - H 2011

A passionate brief for film preservation wrapped in a fanciful tale of childhood intrigue and adventure, Hugo dazzlingly conjoins the earliest days of cinema with the very latest big-screen technology. At once Martin Scorsese ‘s least characteristic film and his most deeply felt, this opulent adaptation of Brian Selznick ‘s extensively illustrated novel is ostensibly a children’s and family film, albeit one that will play best to sophisticated kids and culturally inclined adults. Paramount has no choice but to go for broke by selling this most ingenious of 3D movies to the widest possible public, hoping that critical acclaim and novelty value will pique the curiosity of all audiences. All the same, it remains something of a tricky proposition commercially.

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The Bottom Line A fabulous and passionate love letter to the cinema and its preservation framed by the strenuous adventures of two orphans in 1930s Paris.

Like so many of the most popular and enduring fictions centered on children, from Dickens to Harry Potter , this one is about orphans and castoffs, kids who must scheme, fight and resist authority to make their way in life. With exceptional imagination, first Selznick and now Scorsese and scenarist John Logan have found a way to connect their resourceful leading characters with one of the great early figures of cinema, Georges Melies , most famous as the originator of the science fiction film with his 1902 A Trip to the Moon and, perhaps more significantly, the first man to recognize the connection between the cinema and dreams.

In an incidental moment that alone justifies the entire recent resurgence of 3D, Scorsese recreates the legendary presentation of the Lumiere brothers’ 1897 Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat , at which audiences flinched in horror as a train filmed coming into a station appeared to be headed right at them, in a way that astonishingly captures the reaction the brief clip was described as having created. For anyone remotely interested in film history, Hugo must be seen in 3D if only for this interlude, which the director and cinematographer Robert Richardson have pulled off through an impeccably precise combination of framing and timing.

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The richness of detail and evident care that has been extended to all aspects of the production are of a sort possible only when a top director has a free hand to do everything he or she feels is necessary to entirely fulfill a project’s ambitions. As has been seen all too many times, this sort of carte blanche has its pitfalls in indulgence, extravagance and waste. In this case, however, the obvious expenditures of time, care and money would seem to have been devoted to matters directly connected to Scorsese’s overriding obsessions with film — the particulars of its creation, manner of presentation, the nature of the people who make it, its importance to the inner lives of those who love it and preservation both of film itself and the reputations of its practitioners.

By contrast, the film’s faults have more to do with less exalted issues such as slight overlength, a certain repetitiveness and the evident fact that Scorsese is not a great director of physical comedy.

The eponymous orphan here is Hugo Cabret ( Asa Butterfield ), a prepubescent youngster who, after the death of his beloved father (Jude Law in flashback), is grudgingly taken under wing by a dissolute uncle ( Ray Winstone ) who tends to the complicated system of clocks at one of Paris’ major train stations, circa 1931 (as specified in Selznick’s book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret , although not in the film). The labyrinth of gears, cranks, shafts and stairs that comprise this hidden chamber is explored in an extraordinary shot that winds up through it, and when the old man expires, Hugo, with nowhere else to go, surreptitiously takes charge of the clocks, unbeknownst to the vigilant station inspector ( Sacha Baron Cohen ).

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When the coast is clear, Hugo slips out of a wall grating to snatch something to eat and runs afoul of a sour old man ( Ben Kingsley ) who tends a toy shop in the station. He also meets another station dweller, Isabelle ( Chloe Grace Moretz ), who’s been raised by the old man, her godfather, and his wife. A precocious lass who, in a nice invention of Logan’s, likes to use big words, Isabelle is a bookworm with bright eyes and a wonderful smile who has no complaints except that her protectors won’t permit her to see movies. Hugo remedies this by taking her to a showing of Safety Last , famous for the image of Harold Lloyd dangling over the streets of Los Angeles from a clock. Thus is born a new cinephile.

Having found his first friend, Hugo dares to bring Isabelle to his private lair, albeit with an ulterior motive; a heart-shaped key she wears around her neck looks like just what he needs to activate his primary inheritance from his father, an elaborate, unfinished automaton he’s been tinkering with that he suspects might provide him with vital information.

VIDEO: ‘Hugo’ Q&A: James Cameron & Martin Scorsese

The upshot is that Isabelle’s guardian is none other than Melies, the film pioneer thought to have died during World War I. Embittered and forgotten, Melies destroyed his own work, melting the celluloid down to be used as heels for women’s shoes, and the children, in league with an early film historian ( Michael Stuhlbarg ) set about engineering the resurrection of the old gent’s reputation, while also restoring his sense of purpose in life.

This impulse to recognize and rehabilitate a filmmaker and his work lies at the core of Hugo and has perhaps never before been so lovingly and extensively expressed in a narrative feature. As the film pushes into its second hour, Scorsese and his team imaginatively and exactingly recreate the shooting of scenes from several notable Melies films, replicating the extraordinary sets, costumes and “special effects” they employed, and which often featured the director’s wife Jeanne ( Helen McCrory ). A particular point is made of how Melies’ films were hand-colored, frame by frame, the results of which are vividly rendered through the fortuitous recent Lobster Films color restoration of A Trip to the Moon . In related contexts, many other silent films — some famous, others not so much — are sampled in an enormously expressive but admirably disciplined manner.

Compared to Scorsese’s fundamental achievement in so eloquently articulating his abiding passion in a fictional context, the melodrama surrounding Hugo’s precarious existence in the station and his persistent, if easily distracted, pursuit by the station inspector feels overextended and indulged. The kid-in-peril interludes feel both obligatory, as something to potentially engage younger audiences, and padded to give more screen time to Cohen, who delivers an arch performance that is faintly amusing and slightly off-key. The director works overtime to give the station scenes cinematic life, letting the camera loose to prowl amid hordes of extras and dense scenic detail, but overkill eventually sets in after one or two too many chases. An under-two-hour running time should have been a goal.

One aspect that takes a bit getting used to is the across-the-board use of British accents by the, admittedly, mostly English cast for characters who are all French. It was a perfectly pragmatic decision, in the end, as having the actors employ French accents would likely have proved annoying and universal American accents would have been no more logical than British ones; it’s probably just the vast difference in speech and temperament on opposite sides of the Channel that somewhat jars.

Although he ultimately comes through with a winning performance, Butterfield, previously seen in Son of Rambow and The Wolfman , seems a bit stiff and uncertain in the early-going; there are scenes in which he seems over-manipulated, right down to the slightest gestures and the direction of his glances. By contrast, Moretz ( Kick-Ass, Let Me In ), with her beaming warmth and great smile, is captivating as a girl who leaps at the chance for some adventure outside of books. Refusing to sentimentalize, Kingsley catches both the deeply submerged hurt and eventual pride of an artist long but not forever erased from history, while McCrory invigorates as his younger wife, who first protects but then crucially helps liberate his secret.

The film’s craft and technical achievements are of the highest order, combining to create an immaculate present to film lovers everywhere. It would be hard to say enough on behalf of Richardson’s cinematography, Dante Ferretti’ s production design, Sandy Powell’s costumes, Rob Legato ‘s extensive visual effects, Thelma Schoonmaker ‘s editing, Howard Shore ‘s almost constant score and the army of technical experts who made all of Scorsese’s perfectionist wishes come true.

One amusing detail is that the view from Hugo’s clock tower seems to vary in height from scene to scene, as judged in relation to the Eiffel Tower across the city; at times it’s level with the second deck of the landmark, at others is even with the very top and at least once provides a perspective actually looking down upon it. A work of great imagination indeed.

Opens: Nov. 23 (Paramount) Production: GK Films, Infinitum Nihil Cast: Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Christopher Lee, Helen McCrory, Michael Stuhlbarg, Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths, Jude Law Director: Martin Scorsese Screenwriter: John Logan, based on the novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick Producers: Graham King, Tim Headington, Martin Scorsese, Johnny Depp Executive producers: Emma Tillinger Koskoff, David Crockett, Georgia Kacandes, Christi Dembrowski, Barbara De Fina Director of photography: Robert Richardson Production designer: Dante Ferretti Costume designer: Sandy Powell Visual effects supervisor: Rob Legato Editor: Thelma Schoonmaker Music: Howard Shore PG rating, 130 minutes

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'Hugo' review

The magical nature of cinema is explored in Martin Scorsese's thoughtful family blockbuster. Largely spellbinding from beginning to end, Hugo 's alternating heartwarming and heartbreaking nature is the result of a poignant narrative, masterful direction and a superb multi-generational cast. Despite much technical wizardry, it still manages to feel pure.

Blending fact and fantasy, this adaptation of Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret stars Asa Butterfield as the titular orphan who resides in a 1930s Paris train station. Relying on thieving for survival, Hugo devotes his time to trying to figure out how to fix his late father's automaton - a mechanical figure he believes holds a message.

Hugo continually scrawls diagrams in a notebook, which is taken from him by the station's tetchy toyshop owner (Sir Ben Kingsley) - fed up with the boy's stealing. Attempts to prise back his possession leads Hugo to befriend his nemesis's bookworm goddaughter Isabelle (Moretz) - and propels them on an engrossing adventure. Can Hugo fix the broken heart of an old man and the automaton's clockwork before Sacha Baron Cohen's copper puts him in the orphanage?

Scorsese frames the story within a luscious depiction of Paris, using that as a canvas to deploy some technical brilliance. The extended opening shot swoops through the rooftops and into the steampunk station before scurrying through the dark recesses to encounter Hugo's sorrowful visage. This sequence immerses us within the environment, echoing the iconic Goodfellas Steadicam nightclub sequence. Similarly, fantastic use of 3D - a rarity - enhances rather than detracts from the narrative.

The illusionary nature of early silent cinema also comes to the fore as the plot progresses - harking back to the pioneering days of A Trip to the Moon director Georges Méliès and his audacious methods. It creates a marvellous juxtaposition, as we observe in 3D a man using scissors and tape to edit a film back in the early 20th Century.

Although it is hard to grasp just how shocked early cinema audiences felt when they first saw a train hurtle towards them on the big screen, Scorsese has nonetheless managed to create a potent sense of awe with what we witness. In many ways, Hugo is one man's love letter to cinema.

Despite these superlatives, it's not all perfection. There is a lull midway through due to the repetitive 'dog and mouse' chases and dream sequences that are high on spectacle but low on narrative relevance. Fortunately this doesn't last too long, as the story shifts to focus on Hugo's real storytelling meat - the past fortunes and failings of Méliès.

Sacha Baron Cohen's gendarme is sporadically problematic, with a nuanced accent that's an unwelcome distraction. His visual appearance ensures that the makers of any Arthur Bostrom biopic will be dialing his number once that dream project of the 'Allo 'Allo! star is greenlit. Aside from this (good) moaning, his character does ultimately transcend its caricature trappings courtesy of a sweet subplot with Emily Mortimer's coy damsel.

At the movie's core is a mesmerising turn from Sir Ben Kingsley, who adds so much depth to a man who has closed the door on a painful past. To go into more detail could ruin a few surprises, but it's thoroughly affecting. In a smaller role as his wife, Helen McCrory also shines, while the imposing figure of Sir Christopher Lee lends dramatic weight as a bookshop owner.

Comparatively lacking in experience, Asa Butterfield and Chloë Moretz are never out of their depth. The former imbues streetwise Hugo with a mournful sense of innocence and wonder, while Moretz possesses a disarming sweetness, bandying about words of a more mellifluous nature than those she spewed out in Kick Ass . Scorsese is a great talent spotter, having set Jodie Foster on the road to acclaim in Taxi Driver .

A powerful reminder of the magic of cinema and Martin Scorsese's astounding versatility, the entertaining and educational Hugo deserves to be a major success. Just like George Méliès was inspired to experiment with the filmic form after stumbling across a short by the Lumière Brothers in the late 1800s, perhaps a future moviemaking great could be inspired by this feature. It certainly resonates with you long after you've left the cinema...

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