Reviews

I liked this movie for 3 things: the use of real locations rather than very inaccurately rendered studio sets (do you hear me, Steven Spielberg?); the use of actual modern Egyptian actors in various roles; the fact that the female ingénue was allowed to have brains and be resourceful and even save the guy once in a while. (I'm offended by the comment that called her "jiggle interest". That shows the offensive mindset of the poster here and not the movie). Even the mixing of locations mentioned by a couple of other people and the fact that archaeologists supposedly keep field journals on papyrus are worth a giggle and add to the amusement value. That's why I gave it a 5.

I disliked it because of the wooden acting, some of the casting (i.e. Brock Pierce, Stacy Keach) and the stilted dialogue. Then there's the "magical" element. Due to my husband's work I know a lot of archaeologists who been digging in Egypt for decades and nothing sparkly has ever happened on any of their digs.

Dickens' Oliver Twist has been the subject of many adaptations, including the movie version of the god-awful stage musical. It is this one, and a subsequent version made for American television in 1997 that I have seen most recently and it is with those that I make my comparisons. (I have seen all or part of at least 3 others, but not recently, including the Roman Polanski version). In terms of overall realism, this version far outstrips many of the others. This may or may not be a good thing, depending on whether you want a jolly fairy-tale or a sobering social commentary. If the former, don't bother with this version.

Despite the presence of a number of good actors, I found some of the performances a bit disappointing. In particular, the lead William Miller was sometimes lacking in emotion. However, this performance brought out something quite different than other versions. In those Oliver is often presented as a gentle innocent. Miller's Oliver, on the other hand, conveys something steely under his youth. He is no victim of circumstance, swept along by events, but a character who has the potential to grow into someone even a Bill Sykes would fear. The performance of Hardy as Sykes was almost completely lacking in the menace that an actor like Oliver Reed could convey even in the silliest of musicals. As Nancy, Sophie Okenado conveyed a totally new version of the character. After the initial surprise, I forgot about the issue of "colour" and could believe in her totally as a character of the time. The savagery of her death, however, was strangely low-key in comparison to the rest of the movie. I thought Timothy Spall was excellent, perhaps the best thing in the movie, giving this Fagin a depth. When he would rather hang than renounce his religion, Spall's Fagin achieves near nobility. Finally, the end of the series was very thought-provoking, contrasting as it did the fates of two young boys: Dodger and Twist. Oliver Twist, child of an upper-class family, is shown in a happy Christmas scene reunited with his loving family and destined to a life of ease. Dodger, on the other hand, who is shown with particular sympathy in this version, is left to find the body of his beloved Nancy and to listen to his protector Fagin's death by hanging. In the end, he walks away a little Sykes in the making. The message is clear.

This is the best Canadian production I have seen in years. The plot was riveting, the acting first-rate and the production values excellent - equivalent to anything produced in the United States or elsewhere. The acting sometimes tends to reflect the intense nature of the action. This should not surprise us. After all, a story based on a real historical incident in which nearly two dozen Assiniboine were killed, including women and children, cannot be an unemotional one. The casting is somewhat problematic. Nicholas Campbell and Michael Eisner do not physically look alike enough to convince us that they are older and younger versions of the same man. Their acting styles and the direction that they must have been given to portray their characters are also diametrically opposed. Finally, there is the issue of the flashbacks. Constantly switching back and forth from 1873 to the 1920s is not done as smoothly as it could have been and is very disconcerting. Although the script embellishes somewhat upon the known historical facts of the Cypress Hills Massacre (eyewitness accounts at the trials of the wolfers were somewhat contradictory) the essence of the historical event that led to the formation of the Northwest Mounted Police remains intact.