Rating: R
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 07/12/2007
Sound: DD2
Run Time: 97 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: Strand Home Video
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, All Movie Guide
;)
