Hugo (2011)

An orphan searches for the cause of his father's death and finds a retired film director working as a shopkeeper in a railway station.Martin Scorsese knows how to move a fucking camera. The cinematography and art direction in this film are fantastic. Scorsese's eye for complicated tracking shots that are both stylish and tell the story is on full display in Hugo, and he makes good use of the latest, post-Avatar 3D craze. And Ben Kingsley is his usual incredible self. My favorite moment is when Hugo and Isabelle confront Kingsley's character with the automaton's sketch. The line is written, "So cruel," and a lesser actor would have screamed it in an accusation, but not Kingsley. He sits defeated on the bed and says the line simply, as though he is once again shocked by how mean people can be. He's just too damn good for words.The story falls apart in the second act. The first act sets us up to believe that Hugo is about a boy trying to find the mysteries his father left behind, which might ultimately lead to an explanation about his death, but in the second act, the film becomes an American Cinema Paridiso. I know this is where Scorsese's heart lies; the man loves movies more than anyone. But by the time the film stalls in the second act and finds its place in exploring the importance of cinema, I was left wondering if the story's structure would not have been improved by introducing Hugo's love of movies earlier and given his father a more obvious connection to the cinema. Also, most of the supporting cast, Emily Mortimer, who is reduced to smiling (but what a smile!) and occasionally looking concerned, Ray Winstone, who is drunk, Christopher Lee, who is imposing, and Jude Law, who is dead, are woefully under-used.Overall, I enjoyed Hugo for its art direction and camera work and the flash of excitement Scorsese imbues in all his work, but the basic story needed another revision.