After countless faithful translations to the big screen -- not to mention one timeless, Oscar-winning musical version -- Charles Dickens' tale of downtrodden London youth is given a gritty, contemporary spin in this independent Canadian production. This time told from the point of view of the Artful Dodger, Twist transposes the story of Oliver Twist to modern-day Toronto, where Dodge (Nick Stahl) is a smack-addicted male hustler working the streets when he comes across foster-home runaway Oliver
(Joshua Close). The two strike up a fast friendship and Dodge makes the boy his apprentice, introducing him to a world of drugs, prostitution, and squalid, rent-free living, overseen by the formidable pimp Fagin (Gary Farmer). But Oliver finds his loyalties torn between his nascent attraction to Dodge and his son-like affection for Nancy (Michèle-Barbara Pelletier), the girlfriend of and pusher for the powerful drug dealer Bill Sykes. Written and directed by former child actor Jacob Tierney (The Neon Bible), Twist first made its appearance on the festival scene at the 2003 Venice and Toronto fests. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
Apart from the somewhat novel conceit of turning Dickens into the stuff of a Gus Van Sant picture (see My Own Private Idaho), there's nothing original, nor compelling, about Twist.
Unrelenting in its tragedy, this movie should come with a major bummer warning or something to help you recover from the haunting images. The story is a little thin at times.
A very interesting modern "twist" on the Dickens classic.
Very dark, very emotional and (best of all) no precocious children.
Not without it's flaws, but all in all a decent production.
August 7, 2009
Robert C
Super Reviewer
yo'ull either love or hate this movie, it has amazing visual style i got to say, the dialogue is really goo. The retelling is pretty original too. I never thought I'd like it but i did.
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