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Oliver!Rating:
Release Date: 11 August, 1998 Retail Price: $19.94 OUR Price: $12.97 You SAVE: $6.97! Cast: Complete Cast (11 total) |
Oliver! Reviews
Wonderful musical adaptation of a classic!
This is a great film and true in spirit and basic plot to Dickens. The songs are melodically wonderful and the choreography is original, fresh and keeps your eyes constantly on the screen. The movie is very well cast and Ron Moody is wonderful as Fagin. He is "nicer" than in the book (maybe it's the pet owl they gave him) but his basic motivations and actions remain the same albeit he has a happier more ambiguous ending in the film. Oliver Reed is probably a more physically attractive Bill Sikes than the one most people imagine from reading Dickens' work but he is certainly menacing and scary. Nancy, also, is much lovelier (as well as older) than the novel describes but the part is excellently acted and sung by Shani Wallis. The child actors are all engaging and do not have the smugness (well the Artful and Charlie are supposed to be "cheeky") too many times seen in young kids in movies.
The plot is simplified from the book and a few characters like Rose and Oliver's evil half brother Monks are left out for time's sake but it does not hurt the story since it could be argued that the original has too many complicated subplots. Some "exciting" scenes are added for the action loving moviegoer and rather disturbingly innocent Oliver is present at the scenes of both Nancy and Bill's demise. Mr. and Mrs. Bumble do not have the larger, very comic, parts they play in both the novel and the originial musical though Mr. Bumble's "the law then sir is a bachelor...and may he learn from experience" speech is included and is almost word for word from Dicken's original writing as are many other critical speeches throughout the film. Oliver is a wonderful gem the whole family can enjoy. The DVD does have to be flipped over and there are not many extras but these are minor quibbles in such a great viewing experience.
The last of the cast of thousands musicals. Infectious songs with a great Fagin, Bill Sykes, and Nancy
Dickens' story of Oliver Twist has always been popular and heart wrenching. Well, unless you are just too too sophisticated for such things. I find that being "above" such works just too deadly dull. A small boy simply trying to survive in the world that is not only indifferent to him, but actively hostile to his trying to live, is something people identify with and want to do something about. And it was the desire to prick the conscience of the public to inspire action to care for the poor and orphans that Dickens was after. David Lean made a fine film of the novel in 1948. This musical was made twenty years later and won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1968. There were many nominations including Ron Moody's wonderful portrayal of Fagin. His is a very different Fagin from the character in the novel, but one that is always a delight on the screen and is indelible in the memory.
And what Moody did for Fagin is pretty much what happens to the whole story. Everything is cheered up quite a bit (for the most part) and cleaned up for a musical that sends everyone home singing some pleasant tunes. The story follows the broad outlines of the novel. Nancy (Shani Wallis) is freshened up and made more beautiful than such a creature could ever have been, but she still pays the price for protecting Oliver from Bill Sykes. Oliver Reed's Bill Sikes is amazingly threatening and burns in the memory of children who see the movie, even today.
The musical does have a sharp split in mood. The first half of the movie, all the way to the song "Who Will Buy" is pretty much treated as a journey, but one of improving fortune for Oliver and culminates in that song. The mood is jolly and full of tunes one can't help but remember. You find yourself singing them for days afterwards even when you don't want to. They are that infectious. However, after that song, once Sikes decides he needs to get the boy back to protect himself, no matter what. The story and the film change a great deal. It is almost like falling off a cliff.
The musical finds a happy ending for all except the one great villain and his beautiful victim. However, the jolly mood of the first half returns with some more happy tunes and we leave the theater with the horror of Sikes and Nancy sort of tucked away behind our good mood. As I watched this musical again, I was amazed how well things still hold up. There is one song, though, that as an adult I found a bit unnerving. When Nancy sings "As Long As He Needs Me", I thought about how too typical this self destructive attitude is and wish such an awful sentiment didn't get such a beautiful song. She isn't staying by a cancer patient, you know. She is pledging to a monster. Still, it is a beautiful song. I just hope it is more often sung in the context of a more noble situation.
Oh, and for you younger viewers. All those huge crowd scenes are actually full of people. I know that today all those little folks in the back would all by CGI. However, those did not exist in 1968. Those are all people dancing way in the back. Yeah, even the dots way way in the back are actual people dancing. This musical was already a bit dated when it was done as far as style and being happy and cheerful without irony. Such a movie was, I believe, never made again. So, it is great that we have this multiple Oscar winning film to remember a time before everyone felt the need of being miserable as a fashion statement. Strongly recommended for all audiences, except the too ironically detached.
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