Page to Screen: Hugo

I had high expectations going into watching Hugo, the movie adaptation of Brian Seltzer’s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which I reviewed yesterday. If you read my review, then you know I loved the book. Also, I’m big fan of Chloë Grace Moretz who plays Isabelle. I was excited that she’s in it.

The movie is a fairly faithful adaptation of the book, yet somehow manages to be really boring! I’m not sure why either because the book is anything but. Maybe it loses something without all the wonderful illustrations?

The one major change from the book is that the Station Inspector has been changed from a dark, looming presence always one step behind Hugo, to an incompetent, bumbling idiot whose slapstick mistakes are supposed to be funny. He’s played by Sascha Baron Cohen, who I have always though is mostly annoying and not very funny. If you’re a fan of his, then you may like this movie better than I did. Kids will probably like him since they are usually fans of physical comedy.

Hugo was nominated for and won a ton of Oscars but I think it’s telling that it wasn’t nominated for any of the major awards, like acting or directing. It actually is probably a good family movie to power through for your kids’ sake but I wouldn’t recommend it otherwise.