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Clock and Awe

Your first choice to adapt a children's story might not be Martin Scorsese. But consider "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick. The award-winning best seller involves the titular young orphan in early 1900s Paris, living in the rafters of a train station. Bequeathed a mechanical man (an "automaton") by his father, Hugo stumbles upon a man linked to the origins of moviemaking. Now the choice of director doesn't seem so odd.

As imagined by Mr. Scorsese, "Hugo", as the title is shortened, is a sumptuous visual feast. Each 3D shot is less filmed than composed. The opening minutes, in particular, play like a wordless overture. Like the beginning of "Up", the sequence eloquently sets up Hugo's plight. Confined to the rafters of the train station, forced to steal food and hounded mercilessly by the station inspector (a mercifully restrained Sacha Baron Cohen), Hugo dreams of fixing the automaton and unlocking the secret he believes his father left for him.

Spying from the station's many clockfaces, Hugo obsesses on the proprietor (Ben Kingsley) of a toy shop filled with all manner of clockwork contraptions. When he's caught stealing small gears from the toymaker, Hugo begins his journey to understanding the true origins of his mechanical friend.

It all seems like a good setup for a wondrous children's movie and, for a time, it is. But as adapted by John Logan ("Gladiator", "The Aviator"), the dialogue veers too often into the obvious - metaphors are hammered home ("what if I'm like one of those broken machines", we get it) and characters actually ask "what's my purpose?"

The actors do their best to sell it. From his opening moments, Mr. Kingsley grabs hold of your heartstrings and refuses to let go until the closing credits. Mr. Cohen tones down what could have been shameless mugging. And relative newcomer Asa Butterfield - looking like a young Ewan McGregor - shows surprising range as the title. Only Chloë Grace Moretz (from "Kick-Ass") feels a bit too anachronistic, plus she's saddled with a character that is almost obnoxiously precocious (she shamelessly namedrops her favorite novels and characters, and enjoys biting into words like "clandestine").

As expected, Mr. Scorsese excels in the 3D medium - he has perhaps used the technology better than any before him - each shot has a real depth of field, and he has a great time with snow and dust particles. The depiction of Paris will bring to mind Baz Luhrmann's equally operatic "Moulin Rouge". But Mr. Scorsese lets his wonder get the better of him. Shots last a beat too long, as if he's saying, "look how cool this is!" and the slapstick scenes with Mr. Cohen fall with a thud. As a result, the rhythm of the film feels off. Rather than an elegant 90-minute children's fable, we have a two-plus hour epic about the very invention of cinema.

Surely, Mr. Scorsese's next foray into 3D will be more self-assured (and possibly more violent). Still, "Hugo" is a beautiful film. And those with a love of beautiful films - or film itself - will surely find a lot to appreciate here. Even if it doesn't always run like clockwork.