Jan. 22, 2003 - 4:25 pm
my mom sent me a couple of suggestions for some movie musicals a couple of weeks ago, so i'm getting around to those this week. this film won Best Picture for 1968 along with Best Score and a few other things. i saw it many years ago, but had forgotten much of it, so i guess it was about time to be seeing it again. keep in mind when thinking about the rating though, musicals are not my favorite.
this is the Charles Dickens story of Oliver Twist adapted into a movie musical. it's about an orphan boy who escapes from an English workhouse and goes to London to find his fortune. when he's there he falls in with a band of thieves and gets arrested for pickpocketing. eventually he is able to find a rich family and a home to live in. not to complex, and it's even thinned out more by all of the time consumed by musical numbers.
i have to give this one a lower rating because the plot is virtually nonexistent. you saw how long it took me to sum up. as far as the musical numbers, most of the songs are pretty good and catchy and all that and the dance sequences are entertaining for the most part. about 3 or 4 of them i thought were kind of dull though. and i have to agree with Colin, who recently went to see this as a stage musical, that the "who will buy my red roses, etc." number seemed a bit out of place. it's very random and doesn't have anything to do with the central plot. it's a sequence where you see all these different vendors walking around outside wondering who will buy their products. what does this have to do with Oliver and his plight? don't ask me.
so i'll say i liked this movie a little bit. but not too much. i think i'll take a break from musicals for a few days though before i push on through the next one.