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Movies / On DVD / Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist

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Oliver Twist (2005)

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Reviews Counted:133

Fresh:78

Rotten:55

Average Rating:6.3/10

Consensus: Polanski's version of Dickens' classic won't have audiences asking for more because while polished and directed with skill, the movie's a very impersonal experience.

Runtime: 2 hrs 5 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Sep 23, 2005 Limited

Box Office: $1,987,287

Synopsis: Acclaimed director Roman Polanski turns a dark eye toward the classic Charles Dickens novel OLIVER TWIST, about a charming orphan boy (Barney Clark) whose life seems to depend solely on the whims... Acclaimed director Roman Polanski turns a dark eye toward the classic Charles Dickens novel OLIVER TWIST, about a charming orphan boy (Barney Clark) whose life seems to depend solely on the whims of fate. Abandoned early in life, Oliver first seems doomed to life in a workhouse, where he is farmed out to a local undertaker where he regularly is underfed and mistreated. Hoping to improve his lot in life, Oliver runs away to London, where he falls in with a gang of petty criminals led by the fence Fagin (Ben Kingsley) and the young pickpocket the Artful Dodger (Harry Eden). His new situation seems like relief, until he meets Mr. Brownlow (Edward Hardwicke), who sees Oliver's true character and potential and seems determined to sway destiny. Despite his innocent performance, eleven-year old Barney Clark was already a seasoned professional when Polanski recruited him to play Oliver, including studies at the Anna Scher Theatre and performances in the film THE LAWLESS HEART and British television dramas FOYLE'S WAR and THE BRIEF. Also of note is the moving score by award-winning composer Rachel Portman, which brings to life the gritty life of Victorian London. Polanski can now add OLIVER TWIST to his array of classic films, including THE PIANIST and CHINATOWN, which forever will shape cinematic vision. [More]

Starring: Ben Kingsley, Jamie Foreman, Harry Eden, Leanne Rowe

Starring: Ben Kingsley, Jamie Foreman, Harry Eden, Leanne Rowe, Barney Clark, Edward Hardwicke, Mark Strong, Ian McNeice

Director: Roman Polanski

Director: Roman Polanski
Screenwriter: Ronald Harwood
Producer: Robert Benmussa, Alain Sarde
Composer: Rachel Portman
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment

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Release:

Jan 24, 2006

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Reviews for Oliver Twist

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
10/06/05
Time Out
N/R

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Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/01/05
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
N/R

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Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
09/30/05
Boston Phoenix
N/R

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Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
06/24/06
Sydney Morning Herald
N/R

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Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
10/01/05
AV Club
N/R

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Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
10/07/05
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
N/R

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Full Review Source: NYC Film Critic | comment Comment
12/06/05
Ethan Alter
Ethan Alter
NYC Film Critic

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Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
09/24/05
Hollywood.com

[T]he maddening thing is not just that we hardly need another movie adaptation of [Oliver Twist] ... but that there are other Dickens books that haven't been given the major movie treatment that would better suit Polanski's temperament.

Full Review Source: Blogcritics.org | comment Comment
12/26/05
Alan Dale
Alan Dale
Blogcritics.org

[Polanski] takes the Dickens that screenwriter Ronald Harwood has faithfully transcribed and doesn’t so much bring it to life as turn it into a handsomely mounted still life

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/28/05
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

Please sir, can we have some less?

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
10/08/05
Andy Jacobs
Andy Jacobs
BBC

It's noble, high-minded and safe, and I can't help thinking that I would have preferred an audacious but honest failure.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
09/30/05
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post

Dickens knew that melodrama answers to something permanent in our nature; without it, any version of Oliver Twist draws perilously close to the genteel.

Full Review Source: New Yorker | comment Comment
09/26/05
Anthony Lane
Anthony Lane
New Yorker

Any parents thinking of bringing their young kids to this very-hard-PG-13 downer have hereby been warned.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
09/22/05
Brett Buckalew
Brett Buckalew
FilmStew.com

Please sir, can I have some more... levity with my poverty and abject misery. This bleak story could benefit from some musical numbers to break up the monotony of sorrow.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
09/30/05
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

Oliver Twist is a rarity, as far as Polanski films go, in that it is just an OK movie.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
09/29/05
Chris Cabin
Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com

Dickens' continuing relevance is less a testament to his genius than to the endurance and recurrence of the problems he took as his focus.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
09/30/05
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

The idea of Ben Kingsley as Fagin is such an obvious fit that he isn't surprising, nor are his acting choices

Full Review Source: Zap2it.com | comment Comment
09/24/05
Dan Fienberg
Dan Fienberg
Zap2it.com

Yet given previous versions... there ought to be something new here to warrant retelling. There isn’t.

Full Review Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette | comment Comment
09/30/05
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Plods along with the dutiful, near-reverent air of an annual Christmas sermon.

Full Review Source: Fresno Bee | comment Comment
10/03/05
Donald Munro
Donald Munro
Fresno Bee
 
 
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Latest News for Oliver Twist

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