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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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81 - 100 (sorted by date)
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Perhaps it will take a school trip to encourage kids to see Oliver Twist, but that's one permission slip parents should sign.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
09/29/05
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Seeing Polanski's version of this most Dickensian of all Charles Dickens' tales, I felt full and wanted no more versions (please, sir!), having now seen the definitive one.

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
09/29/05
Bruce Newman
Bruce Newman
San Jose Mercury News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film is high on production values but short on heart.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
09/29/05
Jeff Strickler
Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Polanski's Oliver Twist is craftsmanly and relatively unsentimental.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
09/29/05
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

While (David) Lean's '48 Twist remains definitive, Polanski offers today's filmgoers a version nearly as rich and evocative.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
09/29/05
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Roman Polanski's new version finds the humor in Dickens' story without glossing over the essential point that a society must be judged inhumane if its treatment of its most unfortunate members is not humane.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
09/29/05
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Polanski's Twist is a serious and credible movie with a great many virtues -- gorgeous cinematography and an activist zeal chief among them -- but it's something you watch rather than lose yourself in.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
09/29/05
Steve Schneider
Steve Schneider
Orlando Weekly

Polanski's film is visually exact and detailed without being too picturesque.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
09/29/05
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Polanski and company have proven that, once again, great stories never go out of style.

Full Review Source: FromTheBalcony | comment Comment
09/29/05
Bill Clark
Bill Clark
FromTheBalcony

When was the last time you walked out of a Polanski picture talking mostly about the sets and music?

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
09/29/05
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A fifth-grade puppet show of Oliver Twist would have been more watchable. And far less sickening.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
09/29/05
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

...one of Polanski's safest, least distinctive pictures -- just another tasteful run through a story that's already too familiar. Oh well, at least in this one nobody sings.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Weekly | comment Comment
09/29/05
Sean Burns
Sean Burns
Philadelphia Weekly

Someday, this may even replace Cliff Notes for the DVD generation.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
09/28/05
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

[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

Kingsley’s Fagin takes us on a fantastic joyride through the sleazy and disease-ridden 19th century London tenderloin and leaves everybody smiling in the end.

Full Review Source: Monsters and Critics | comment Comment
09/28/05
Ron Wilkinson
Ron Wilkinson
Monsters and Critics

Like a Classics Comic Book adaptation of the story--tasteful, subdued and just a bit dull.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
09/28/05
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

Technically accomplished and frequently engaging.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
09/26/05
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

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

The first question I have is, why? Why would Roman Polanski, one of the most innovative directors of the last half-century, want to adapt a story that has been told again and again?

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
09/26/05
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Fails to topple Lean's untoppable version; still one of the best movies of 2005. Startlingly unemotional, but for the stormy torments behind Fagin's overhanging eyebrows.

Full Review Source: Seattle Weekly | comment Comment
09/26/05
Tim Appelo
Tim Appelo
Seattle Weekly
 
 
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Latest News for Oliver Twist

October 27, 2006: Polanski's Role in "Rush Hour 3"
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February 17, 2006: Newell & Bardem Come Down with "Cholera"
International acting stud Javier Bardem and well-rounded movie director Mike Newell are about to bring the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Love in the Time of Cholera" to the... More...

September 29, 2005: Critical Consensus: "Blue" Sinks, "Violence" Kills, "Serenity" Soars
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