Big Screen Blurb: Hugo

It's like clockwork. Every Thanksgiving brings a feel-good flick that pulls at the ole heartstrings and preps me for my favorite holiday of the year. This year that clockwork came to life...literally with Hugo.

Hugo (Asa Butterfield) is the son of a clockmaker. Unfortunately, Hugo's father passed away, leaving him in the care of his drunken and very absent uncle, who maintains the clocks at the train station in Paris. Since his uncle is typically out of the picture. That job falls on lil Hugo, who is essentially raising himself. He'll swipe some food to survive and avoid the local authorities to stay as low profile as possible. Hugo's plan is simple. Since he's learned much from his father's teaching, if Hugo just maintains the station clocks he'll avoid any unwanted attention. All the while, he's trying to fix a man-like machine that he believes will deliver a special message from his dad. It's an adventure that his friend Isabelle joins (Chloe Moretz), as she saves Hugo's day on a few occasions. Enter Georgies Melles (Ben Kingeley). He's a thorn in Hugo's side. Georgies is also Isabelle's caregiver and a rather bitter ole dude with an interesting past. Unveiling that past becomes the real adventure. Yadayadayada Hugo and Isabelle learn a few valuable lessons and are able to teach a few on the way to helping Georgies get his mojo back.

It's okay. I'll go with 3.0 Stars on this one--barely on the sunny side of so-so. Honestly, I was a little disappointed with this one. It's a little tough to put a finger on exactly why. After all, it's a good story and the acting is fine. The tale is designed to deliver a few valuable lessons and does. Those valuable lessons are the movie's saving grace. They include: When something valuable is broke--you fix it. The story reaches a crescendo with the kid's realization of who Georgies is, or was, and go about trying to rekindle that flame. After all, the past is not truly the past if you can keep those memories alive and truly appreciate them.

Yeah, those are great lessons in a seemingly great story. Unfortunately, that story is told in a way that does little to pull at the ole heartstrings. At least not in the way that I felt it would, could and should. I didn't find myself connecting with the characters the way I needed to in order to truly connect with those lessons...not even Hugo. Bottom line: It's just not very compelling.

No, need to go BIG on this one. There are enough strong points here to prompt you to add it to your queue and give it a view in April when it hits Blu-Ray/DVD.

True...OUT!