Oliver Twist

Roman Polanski's version of Charles Dickens' much-filmed tale of an orphan's journey to social respectability is like a Classic Comic Book adaptation of the story—tasteful, subdued, and just a bit dull. As usual, the narrative has been substantially pared down, with lots of subplots and secondary characters jettisoned in favor of the episodes featuring Oliver, his partner in crime the Artful Dodger, the king of the pickpockets Fagin, the murderous Sykes, hooker with a heart of gold Nancy, and savior Mr. Brownlow. Although it omits, in traditional style, the opening sequence of Oliver's birth, it includes—for the first time in a screen adaptation, it seems—the closing one of the boy's visit to Fagin in Newgate Prison. Otherwise, the script hews more closely to previous film adaptations than to the book, with performances that can be described as good if not outstanding (the strongest being Ben Kingsley, encased in thick makeup and a long, stringy wig, whose Fagin is more eccentric than cruel). As for Oliver himself, young Barney Clark has an angelic visage, but he's a tad pallid overall in the role. The curiously genteel, refined character of this Oliver Twist makes it suitable for family viewing, but David Lean's famous 1948 film comes much closer to the spirit of Dickens. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include the 28-minute behind-the-scenes featurette “Twist by Polanski,” the 18-minute “making-of” featurette “The Best of Twist,” “Kidding with Oliver Twist: Barney Clark's Diary” (6 min.) featuring young star Clark, and trailers. Bottom line: a run of the mill extras package for a so-so adaptation of Dickens' classic.] (F. Swietek)