Oliver Twist

This is the first adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous novel that I came to see.

The cast is simply great. Elijah Wood is a very cunning Artful Dodger. I was particularly fond of his wonderful British accent, which he delivers in the contemporary manner of old-fashioned grammar and marked shifts in intonation and stress. This must have been quite challenging for an American actor – I take my hat off to his performance. Alex Trench, who seems to have no movie record whatsoever apart from his appearance here, is a very convincing and well-cast Oliver Twist. He embodies the right combination of natural humor, a handsome appearance and genuine acting skills in front of the camera. I hope that Harry Eden and Barney Clark will be able to live up to the performances of Elijah and Alex in this year's new Polanski adaptation. Fagin, the sly and ambivalent chief of the pickpocket gang who takes Oliver under his wings and develops into a kind of mentor for the young boy who is stranded in the bleak streets of London is played by veteran actor Richard Dreyfuss. He manages to portray the slightly overdone eccentricity of Fagin in a way that is indeed a bit oversubscribed, but nonetheless fitting into the frame of the movie as a whole.

The plot and storyline development is very close to the original artwork by Dickens. The movie starts with Oliver's mother and his birth, his growing up years and the harsh life in the orphanage. It very deliberately focuses on his development and the milieu he is born into, thus setting the stage for his adventures and marking the motivation that makes him break free. It needs not to be said that Oliver's quest for a better life is very much a significant part of the story, as his grandfather and the old man's niece step into his life when he is on the verge of becoming a criminal. Alex is now in this classic scenario Dickens so craftily elaborates on, caught between these two strata, between the bleak and dirty streets of London and the prospect of a wealthy life. His adventures need not to be outlined here any further – they are fairly well-known, and those who are not familiar with them ought to get the movie.

The visuals in the movie are stunning and need to be applauded regarding the low budget of the production and its arrangement as a TV movie. They very much apply to Dickens' perception of the contemporary features of London which he so eloquently describes in his writing. The pace of the plot development, the camera work and the level of suspense that makes up the last third of the movie is sincerely implemented and perfectly transformed.

This version of Oliver Twist is exciting and interesting to watch. It features well-known actors and delivers the essential spirit of Dickens' masterpiece in a way that merits the famous title. Get it and enjoy the atmosphere, the visuals, the acting and the messages involved. I award it with a 8 because of its basic quality and the flawless plot. Wonderful accomplishment!

The reference to the song from the musical version of Charles Dickens' classic is not gratuitous, because this Disney version owes as much to the film version of OLIVER! as it does to the novel. Maybe more, because very little of the novel's depiction of crippling poverty and horrific child abuse remains. Too much sugar coats these reprehensible characters and situations. Fagin is softened to some sort of gruff but lovable foster father, and Nancy is enobled as a hooker-with-a-heart of gold, not a pathetic, physically and mentally battered wretch. One would expect such a treatment from Disney, but the trivialization of poverty, child abuse, and crime does not do the story Dickens intended justice.

This is a movie for the young-not showing too much of a classic that might scare them, helping them see that good will reign in this earth, and a really hot guy name Elijah Wood!!! Okay, I know, this movie might not even be all that good but I can't make a sound judgement because Elijah did so beautifully in this movie. It was-in my opinion-his best role. It shows the extent of his acting, and his heart that he pours into it.

Elijah Wood was too old for his role. Love the guy, really, but frankly, WHAT THE HECK WAS GOING ON WITH THAT ACCENT? It made me cringe! The Artful Dodger is probably my favorite character ever in fiction, and I've loved every incarnation of him I've seen, and really Elijah has a quality to him that should have made him perfect for the part. But will somebody get him a speech-coach! He is good, though, leading the bunch of kids like the Pied Piper (only it's more of a Pie-Eyed Piper). A question. Did they have to give him yellow teeth? Yuck.

Haven't read the book, but this movie was Naff. Elijah Wood was bloody horrible (has he ever even been in a decent movie apart from Lord of the Rings?). Richard Dreyfuss tried his best to have some fun, but this has gotta be the weakest of all his roles. My dad read the book and he said they changed everything around. There was way too much family mushiness.