I had heard much about this movie, not very favourably mind you, but loving the book and enjoying several other versions especially David Lean's film, I finally thought let's give it a go. After watching, I wouldn't say it is a terrible movie, but of the versions seen(1948 film, 1968 musical, 1982 film, 2005 film, 2007 series, 1999 series and 1933 film) it is my least favourite. I do give it credit for the production values, which do look lovely and evocative(mostly, some scenes are a little too clean though), the good soundtrack, the professional direction a suitably innocent Alex Trench as Oliver and Richard Dreyfuss as a delightful Fagin. Elijah Wood also had a real sense of cunning and charisma as Artful Dodger but his inconsistent accent, coming across sometimes as Australian to me, let him down. On the other hand, the script feels rather corny and misses on some of the more important underlying themes of the story like the poverty and child abuse. The story does maintain most of the details of the book, like the scene with Oliver's mother at the start and I did like that Widow Corney's role is expanded, but the basic tone like the sub-plot with the locket feels very sugar-coated, with some brutal scenes of the book like Fagin manipulating Bill into killing Nancy and Nancy's death lacking their power, in fact Nancy's death here is only implied. I'd say the same for the characters, Mr Bumble is only seen in one scene, Bill Sikes looks too clean and I imagined a more burly figure, Fagin though wonderfully played is not quite oily enough and Nancy is too much of the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold cliché with not enough vulnerability. The rest of the performances are decent enough, Antoine Byrne does look lovely and does do well with what the role gives her to work with, but again more vulnerability wouldn't have gone amiss. David O'Hara overall I found too restrained for Bill Sikes, never really convincing as a violent bully. All in all, not a disaster but rather disappointing all the same. 5/10 Bethany Cox

There have been better film versions of Dickens' classic novel 'Oliver Twist,' and while this adaptation may not be topping the bill, it is a film to be enjoyed. Richard Dreyfuss gives a brilliant character lead portrayal of Fagin that entertains and delights, and Elijah Wood gives a most endearingly wicked performance of everyone's favorite character the Artful Dodger. I would recommend it to anyone

This movie wasn't really all that good and most of the acting wasn't too good either. Richard Dreyfuss certainly didn't shine in this movie although he is in excellent actor. I thought that Elijah wood did a good job and so did a few of the other minor actors, but for the most part it was flat and boring

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.