Elijah Wood
Performer for Our Time
Oliver Twist
(1997)
Review
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Elijah Wood Performer for Our Time Oliver Twist Review |
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Oliver Twist (1997) |
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Edward C. Patterson, site owner |
C-
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Charles Dickens has been served amply on film with all but two of his epic Novels (Dombey & Son and Barnaby Rudge) committed to at least one film. The Novella A Christmas Carol has had at least 20 treatments, and close behind it is Oliver Twist. Unfortunately, the Disney TV Oliver Twist does not serve Dickens well, having obliterated most of the delicate balance that the Novel maintains to have credibility. Well, we do forgive and overlook certain things with a classic, but the only contribution this film makes is the performance of Elijah Wood in a very different interpretation of Jack Dawkins, the Artful Dodger. The film lacks many main and important characters—Mr. Bumble, the Beadle being the most prominent. Some characters, like Mrs. Corney, are transposed into new roles to cover for missing characters. Disney’s London is representational and Fagin’s boys are not even sympathetic. Dickens created a world where the orphan is the victim of the environment—the baby farm, the workhouse, the fence, the courts, and prison. Oliver, Jack Dawkins, Bill Sikes and Fagin are the four stages of the fall into depravity at society’s hands. Then, why, in this film don’t we give a flip about Oliver? He doesn’t even appear to be in danger. Maybe because the writers thought Oh, well, everyone knows this story. So let’s just give them the parts they want to see and forget the rest. Unfortunately, the beef is removed and the broth has evaporated. Richard Dreyfuss gives us a caricature of Fagin—rarely threatening, never the tyrannical Jew that Dickens despised and scapegoated and, above all, let’s him get away scot-free at the end. In the novel, Fagin goes to the gallows. But we mustn’t show the kiddies that! Fagin’s character never grows. In addition, Bill Sikes is never as psycho as Dickens portrayed him. David O’Hara presents us with a stage villain, who is more greed than certifiable. Alex Trench as Oliver walks through his role much like David Copperfield does. Except, Dickens’ David Copperfield is one of literature's blandest creations. Oliver is a harrowing role—purity under complete and utter assault. Not here folks. Elijah Wood, as the Artful Dodger, is the only actor who both entertains and performs, developing the character to its fullest. Unfortunately, since none of that character’s arc is really Dickensian, it serves to heighten the fault with both script and the other performances. That leaves us with a frame for an Elijah Wood showcase. The sinister plot line that involves Oliver’s true heritage is so obliterated in the film that the relationships between Mr. Brownlow and Oliver are actually stated as Grandson and Grandfather. There is no lurking Edward in the background. Rose is a sweet sister like figure instead of Oliver’s aunt, haunted by the nightmare of her childhood. Even Mrs. Bedwin, a wonderful Dickens creation, becomes a minor housekeeper with two lines and a tea tray. Nancy, played by Antoine Byrne, is not half so good as she could be and none of the tense emotions that split her between lover and motherhood are presented. I guess we’re suppose to have read the book and assume that they are there. So, what do we have in Disney’s Oliver Twist? A thin remnant and bastardized story line from the original—washed faces, both the streets of London and its urchins, a merry old Fagin, a stage murderer, some milk toast ancillaries and a powerful Artful Dodger, who upstages the rest of the cast. Except for a glimpse of Elijah Wood’s first adult performance and the intelligence of his stylings, stick to the older OT’s—Dickie Moore and Jackie Cooper. C- |