Review: Twist

“Oliver Twist” meets heist movie for parkour enthusiasts. Young roof-jumping orphan delinquent ‘Twist’ (Rafferty Law, apparently the son of Jude) hooks up with The Red Hand gang, thieves led by the elderly Fagin (Sir Michael Caine). Rita Ora plays the rather artful ‘Dodge’, Lena Headey is the menacing Sikes, Noel Clarke plays a detective on the gang’s tail, and David Walliams is a sleazy art gallery owner the gang targets.

 

I don’t know what’s worse, that this 2021 ‘modern’ adaptation of “Oliver Twist” comes across as very late 1980s, or that it took 9 credited sets of hands (!) in the writing process, not counting Charles Dickens. Dreadfully dull and mostly poorly acted, this effort from director Martin Owen (“Max Cloud” with Scott Adkins) would earn the lowest possible rating from me were it not for an edgy Lena Headey as Sikes (inspired casting, despite the ‘treacherous lesbian’ archaic stereotype) and an admittedly charismatic Rita Ora as this film’s artful Dodger, referred to only as Dodge here. Otherwise, this is all very ‘How do you do, fellow kids?’, with the use of parkour and graffiti art supposedly being ‘cool’ and ‘hip’. To me it might as well have been breakdancing and beatboxing, because the idea behind the implementation of parkour and graffiti art into the story (i.e. an attempt at appealing to the young hip folk) is an ironically ancient trick/marketing ploy that I could see right through.

 

Poor Michael Caine looks extremely frail here and it’s hard viewing. There are moments where he is so slow and stilted in his dialogue delivery that he has you genuinely worried that he’s struggling to remember his lines. I know he’s hardly a motormouth at the best of times, but it’s still concerning. Closing in on 90 years old it’s perfectly understandable, but nonetheless it’s noticeable and a very poor performance from the normally excellent actor. Having said that, the performance is left in tact in the final cut so one assumes at least director Owen was happy with it. And I can at least say Caine’s better than David Walliams who, playing a sleazeball, cannot act to save himself. Lead actor Rafferty Law is an absolute bust, in the crucial title role. Deprived of charisma or screen presence you barely even notice him at all. Meanwhile, for all the running and jumping Law does, the film severely lacks any energy or excitement. It’s a disturbingly flat film.

 

A charismatic Rita Ora and ferocious and dangerous Lena Headey can’t come close to saving this dreary, weirdly outdated ‘modern’ spin on “Oliver Twist”. It’s horribly dull. Based on the Dickens characters/story, the ‘original’ idea comes from Simon Thomas (his first writing credit) and the Brothers Lynch (the OK action flick “Final Score”), with the screenplay written by John Wrathall (“The Liability” with Tim Roth) and Sally Collett (“Max Cloud”), with additional material by Matthew Parkhill (the creator of TV’s “Deep State”), Michael Lindley (“The Hooligan Factory”), Tom Grass (“Beyond the Rave” with Jamie Dornan and Ingrid Pitt!), and Kevin Lehane (something called “Grabbers”).

 

Rating: D+