Main Cast: Ben Kingsley, Barney Clark, Jamie Foreman, Harry Eden, Leanne Rowe
Release Year: 2005
Country: FR/UK/IT/CZ
Run Time: 130 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Director Roman Polanski gives one of Charles Dickens' best-loved stories a new and dynamic interpretation in this period drama. Oliver Twist (Barney Clark) is a young orphan in Victorian England who has been sent to a dank workhouse run by the miserly Mr. Bumble (Jeremy Swift) when it is learned there is no one to care for him. When Oliver dares to ask for more gruel, he is sent away to live with an undertaker, who treats him poorly. Preferring life on the streets to the treatment he's been receiving, Oliver runs away to London, where he falls in with the Artful Dodger (Harry Eden), a youthful pickpocket. The Artful Dodger is one of a gang of young thieves overseen by Fagin (Ben Kingsley), a paternal but sinister criminal mastermind. While Oliver finds a home of sorts with Fagin and his young cohorts, he also falls into a dangerous life made all the more threatening by the presence of Fagin's menacing overlord, Bill Sykes (Jamie Foreman). Oliver Twist was Polanski's first feature film after enjoying a major career resurgence following the international success of his Oscar-winning World War II drama The Pianist. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
The mother of all Victorian orphan epics gets remade for the umpteenth time, as Oliver Twist goes under the lens of acclaimed filmmaker Roman Polanski for this 2005 release. Polanski's update of the classic Dickens tale is highly competent, yet wholly unnecessary -- which may have more to do with the era of its release than any objective judgment of its cinematic worth. By 2005, straightforward period pieces had lost their box office clout, so a tale retold many times -- and not that differently this time from the others -- seemed to have little raison d'etre. Almost across the board, critics lauded Oliver Twist, but taken as the follow-up to Polanski's best director win for The Pianist (2002), it can't help but fall short in both urgency and distinction. As ever, Polanski is excellent at establishing a period design and giving it a rough and dark authenticity. No character embodies this commitment to detail more than Ben Kingsley as the cretin Fagin, uglied up with makeup, prosthetics and a creaky lowlife accent. The performances of Kingsley and several others are a credit to the production. But two key performances prevent Oliver Twist from being as effective as it could have been. As the murderer Bill Sykes, Jamie Foreman is more mean than frightening, while Barney Clark is too impassive to make much of an impact in the title role. It's a good metaphor for the film on the whole. While beyond reproach technically, Oliver Twist can't make a thematic argument for its own existence by bringing any relevant new interpretations to the forefront. Dickens enthusiasts and the dwindling period piece crowd will no doubt find Polanski's update worthy, but as for any future attempts to film the definitive Oliver Twist -- please, sir, we don't need any more. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Edward Hardwicke - Mr. Brownlow; Ian McNeice - Mr. Limbkins; Mark Strong - Toby Crackit; Jeremy Swift - Mr. Bumble; Frances Cuka - Mrs. Bedwin; Michael Heath - Mr. Sowerberry; Gillian Hanna - Mrs. Sowerberry; Alun Armstrong - Magistrate Fang; Andrew dela Tour - Workhouse Master; Peter Copley - Dining Hall Master; Liz Smith - Old Woman; Lewis Chase - Charley Bates; Chris Overton - Noah Claypole
Credit
Keith Pain - Supervising Art Director, Celestia Fox - Casting, Anna Sheppard - Costume Designer, Roman Polanski - Director, Hervé de Luze - Editor, Timothy Burrill - Executive Producer, Peter Moravec - Executive Producer, Michael Schwarz - Line Producer, Rachel Portman - Composer (Music Score), Allan Starski - Production Designer, Pawel Edelman - Cinematographer, Roman Polanski - Producer, Alain Sarde - Producer, Robert Benmussa - Producer, Jean-Marie Blondel - Sound/Sound Designer, Ronald Harwood - Screenwriter, Dean Humphreys - Re-Recording Mixer, Motion FX - Visual Effects, VFX Éclair - Visual Effects, Charles Dickens - Book Author, Ralph Remstedt - Assistant Director
