Ben Kingsley, Barney Clark, Jamie Foreman

Abandoned at an early age, Oliver Twist is forced to live in a workhouse lorded over by the awful Mr. Bumble, who cheats the boys of their meager rations. Desperate yet determined, Oliver makes his es...( read more  read more... )cape to the streets of London. Penniless and alone, he is lured into a world of crime by the sinister Fagin -- the mastermind of a gang of pint-sized pickpockets. Oliver's rescue by the kindly Mr. Brownlow is only the beginning of a series of adventures that lead him to the promise of a better life.

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65% liked it

5,524 ratings

PG-13, 2 hrs. 10 min.

Directed by: Roman Polanski

Release Date: September 30, 2005

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DVD Release Date: January 24, 2006

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Flixster Reviews (800)


  • December 20, 2008
    This movie is called "Oliver Twist", im sure you've all heard of it. There's been about three versions of the movie, including a musical version. This version is the newest, it came out in 2005 and its a really dark movie. Which is a good thing in my movie book. I always loved da...( read more)rk movies. Like the Harry Potter movies, they get darker and darker each time, Twilight, that was a dark movie. Fight Club was a DARK movie definatly. I could go on and on naming amazing movies that are dark. I'm sure Vampire 2000 likes dark movies as we'll considering his favorie movie is "Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Stree" and he enjoys horror movies that have Vampires. I'm sure everyone likes a dark movie. The Crypkeeper liking "American Pyhsco", thats a dark movie. Everyone likes dark movies. I'm sure you readers are just realizing that arent yea. Everyone loves that dark movie. This movie is dark, which is exactly why i liked this movie. Your probably saying to yourself, how is THIS a dark movie. We'll it is. The older version and the musical version were not as dark as this one. The other ones were more kidish than young adlult and adultish like this one. I mean this one has the violence and darkness in the characters that make you grip on your seat, other than scary man jumping into a stupid song like the older version. I'm probably boring you all with this "Why the movie is dark" paragraph arent i? Moving on.

    The story in the movie is very interesting. The movie is set back in the Industrial Revolution. The time period were inventions were made with hands to making things with machines. The time were children worked in terrible factory conditions to make money for there family's shelter. That time period. Oliver Twist is the main character of the story, obviously from the title, he is an orphan boy who starts a adventure by getting his way out from the evil Mr. Bumbles' life to living in London City were he meets Fagin and The Dodger. He learns to pick-pocket and how to live in the city. But when, Oliver ends up living with a rich man, Fagin and his gang must get Oliver before he says the wrong words. Its a pretty dark gripping story, but i'm sure you all know the story of Oliver Twist. I liked the plot of the movie because it tells a incredible adventure of a ten year old boy and how he keeps himself alive in London during a very rough time, the Industrial Revolution.

    The acting in this movie was quite good, whoever played Oliver Twist did a great job playing the character who has been a story hero for decades and decades. I was really amazed with whoever played Fagin. He was scary, creepy, funny, evil, and even dramatic in a weird way. lol. Fagin was a great role that i was really interested in. Whoever played Fagin, you deserve a round of applause. [Clap! Clap! Clap!]. Whoever played Mr. Bumble was really bad though, he was too still and really boring. He just didnt bring the evil Mr. Bumble to life like the Mr. Bumble from the older movies and the books. Thats why i gave the acting four stars. Because Mr. Bumble was just way off the line from what he should have been. Sorry whoever played Mr. Bumble, but its not like your reading this. All the other actors and actresses in this movie did a great job, a bravo to all of you. You really brought the amazing story of "Oliver Twist" to life. Good job. Scratch that, Amazing job.

    What i noticed in the movie was the big difference between the rich and the poor. When Oliver was in the orphanage, the adults served all the children white crap, while the adults ate an amazing Turkey dinner that they could have shared with the kids. The rich in the movie treated the poor people like crap. I've noticed all the discounts and such that the rich got and all the respect that they got. That was another issue that was in The Industrial Revoltion and i was amazed to see that they added the "Rich and Poor" story to the movie unlike the other Oliver Twist movies. This movie didnt just pay attention to the Twist story but they paid attention to the Industrial Revolution story. Great job on that.

    In conclusion, this is the Oliver Twist that i call the best of them all. This threw in all the details from the book and everything that the Twist story needed. This is a amazing movie and its dark, compelling, and dramatic that anyone can enjoy. This movie includes amazing acting and a great plot. It also teaches you a few things about the period of the "Industrial Revolution". If you havent seen the 2005 version of Oliver Twist, then rent it. It will NOT dissapoint you. See this now.
  • July 5, 2008
    Dissapointing for a Polanski film
  • June 5, 2008
    In my eyes nothing beats the musical, still Polanski take on the story isn't all bad
  • June 1, 2008
    I don't know which fact I find the most astonishing: that somebody thought the world needed yet another adaptation of "Oliver Twist", or that that somebody was Roman Polanski. His version is as respectful as it is respectable, but it's unlikely to captivate anyone already familia...( read more)r with the story. The digitally tweaked cinematography is not to my taste and, aside from rose-tinting Dickens' abject poverty, the harsh sunlight of the first half suggests that Polanski has been in extradition-wary exile from England so long that he's forgotten our climate! Little more than a puppet for the story's four genuinely interesting characters (Fagin, Bill Sykes, Nancy and the Artful Dodger) to toy with, Oliver is traditionally a thoroughly dull hero, though Barney Clark is especially weak in the role here; the rest of the cast are fine, if unremarkable. If the whole barely satisfies, there are incidental pleasures for the sharp-eyed, such as Oliver's brief, upward glance at the rope from which Bill Sykes will swing as the Dodger ushers him to meet Fagin.
  • March 6, 2008
    It's really hard to figure out why I hate Oliver Twist the way I do. Maybe it had too high expectations (It's Roman Polanski and Ron Harwood, how can you not expect greatness?) but even if I didn't I still wouldn't like this movie. Oliver Twist is a great novel and if you look in...( read more)to the history of Roman Polanski you would know how he shares so much of Twist's struggles that if done right it could have been a masterpiece. Instead we just get prove that even the best filmmakers will shamelessly dumb down a great family story. Yes it's a well made piece but none of it feels as though there was any real heart or care put into it. What a waste of great promise.
  • November 6, 2009
    It took me a month to finish that original version of Dickens' novel and finally today I read the last chapter.
    Previously I watched the 1948 movie version and the 1968 musical. I think this version by Roman Polanski is the most complete version, the one closest to...( read more) the novel. However he skipped the entire story about the private life of beadle Bumble and the stay of Oliver at the Maylie family. Oliver Twist's half-brother Monks was nowhere to be seen either. Let's just say Polanski skipped the complicated parts of the novel.
    This movie starred a great Ben Kingsley as Fagin and a bunch of skilled English child actors. Lovely scenery, many details, beautiful music. Another Bull's Eye for Polanski!
  • November 3, 2009
    One of my all time favourite book, a very good movie and story! The actors were very good and I enjoy every minute of it.
  • October 11, 2009
    i think this is the 1 that ive watched in music class, but i dont remember cause theres 2 oliver movies out.....wait.......no i checked, this isn't it, this is the other 1
  • September 24, 2009
    Roman Polanski's dark but splendid vision of Charles Dickens' classic novel is about as harrowing a "children's tale" as any sane person could imagine. Oliver (Barney Clark) is a young orphan of about age 10 who is sent (briefly) to the workhouse in the English countryside, is gi...( read more)ven away to a rather cruel shopkeeper and his wife, escapes and walks over 70 miles to London where he meets the Artful Dodger (Harry Eden), and is thrust into the middle of a group of young pickpockets being run by the exploitative but (comparatively) decent Fagin (Ben Kingsley), whose business is unfortunately entwined with the evil Bill Sykes (Jamie Foreman). Oliver has the chance at a good life after a misunderstanding with a kindly old man named Brownlow (Edward Hardwicke), but that doesn't last long. In Fagin's circle, there's even a kindly young prostitute named Nancy (Leanne Rowe), who has hair of crimson and a kind heart, and who will prove instrumental to Oliver's survival. Roman Polanksi ("The Pianist," "Rosemary's Baby," "Chinatown") is known for his dark tales of fates spiraling downward, often psychologically affected, as in the case of films like "The Tenant" and "Repulsion." He might not seem like the obvious choice for directing this beloved Dickens tale (which previously inspired a 60's musical by Carol Reed!), but the material is dark enough and Polanski, a Holocaust survivor as a child, is gritty enough to make this work, and surely he must have relied upon a questionable benefactor or two as a young orphan himself. London is presented here as a dirty, brutal place where you almost have to watch your own back, because nobody's going to watch it for you; indeed, this may seem even darker than the Dickens novel you'll recall. The cast, particularly Kingsley as the crusty old fence, is solid as a rock and the film is very well-made. A strong piece of work, and an overlooked gem.
  • September 19, 2009
    such an amazing film

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  • taylorsfit
    February 22, 2007
    hi
    i fink dis is a great film gd choice!!!!!!!!!

    ???
    xxx

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