Last night, I had the opportunity to see the new Martin Scorsese film “Hugo”.  I had no idea what the storyline was, only that a friend had scored passes for it and invited my family and I along.  I made a point of not looking it up so as to approach it with fresh eyes.  I’m very happy that I did.

Before I go any further, I have to say that I am not generally a Scorsese fan.  In fact, I generally dislike the mob/crime films for which he is perhaps best known.  Rather, I prefer his less mainstream works.  Until tonight, my favorite amongst his films was “The Aviator”.  It’s an incredible bio-pic covering the life and eventual downfall of Howard Hughes.  If you’ve never taken the time, I highly recommend it.

But enough about the past, on to the present.  Or in this case the further past.

Despite the look of the commercials, and despite the young leading characters, this is not a children’s movie.  There is nothing in it to terrorize children.  There are scenes of mild peril, but no graphic violence or nudity.  Indeed visually, it is about as family friendly as it gets.  It is in the last third of the movie that the young ones will lose interest.  About the time the film’s actual raison d’etre is revealed.

I won’t give it away, because I hate spoilers myself, but it didn’t go where I expected it to.  I have to say that I was greatly relieved by that.  I went in expecting another kids outwitting the adults to save the day movie.  What I ended up with was a well told story filled with interesting and fully developed characters.  The casting was absolutely brilliant.

What pleased me the most, was the casting of Chloe Grace Moretz in the role of Hugo’s friend Isabelle.  Given that the only films I had seen her in were “Kick-Ass” and “Let Me In”, I was concerned she would end up being type cast as an innocent looking killer.  Isabelle couldn’t be further from those previous outings and has provided her a vehicle to display a wider range than those emotionally stunted characters.

Asa Butterfield is outstanding in the title role, and it is a pleasure to watch his character’s evolution over the course of the film.  With Sir Christopher Lee, Sir Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone and Jude Law in supporting roles, there was no shortage of talent when the two young stars were off-screen.

As I said at the start, I won’t tell you what it’s about.  I don’t want to spoil the surprise.  I will tell you this however.  I don’t expect it to have a large box office past opening weekend, but I do expect it to receive a lot of nominations and maybe take home some hardware during the upcoming award season.

“Hugo” is a brilliant film, and one that will definitely end up on my shelf.  I hope you take a chance on it and enjoy it as much as I did.

Cheers, Winston