The film begins with a bunch of orphaned boys doing hard labor. Then they are walking into the dining hall for their meal. However, they are being served gruel and are longing for better food as expressed in the song, “Food, Glorious Food.”

Meanwhile, their cruel masters, Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Corney, as well as the other staff, get to eat chicken, vegetables, and other real food.

During their meal, a 9-year-old boy named Oliver Twist feels pressured to request seconds. So, he walks up to Mr. Bumble as the other boys stare at him and he asks for more gruel. Unfortunately, this angers both Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Corney, and Oliver is disciplined for it.

Later, Mr. Bumble is taking Oliver down the village in the snow to sell him. He meets an undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry, and gives Oliver to him. Mr. Sowerberry’s apprentice, Noah Claypole, says mean things to Oliver about his mother, who died right after he was born. This enrages Oliver and causes him to physically fight with Noah. However, this also prompts Mr. Sowerberry to lock Oliver in the basement. Luckily, though, Oliver finds some broken bars on the window and escapes.

Some time has passed. Oliver is now in a field, hiding in straw. Still on the run, he tries to request rides from different horse-drawn carriages. But he has no luck. So, he sneaks up on one of them and ends up going to London.

Once there, Oliver meets this boy around his age, Jack Dodger, whom he calls by his surname. Dodger is willing to be Oliver’s new friend as expressed in the number, “Consider Yourself.” He then takes Oliver to this shelter of boys, who seem friendlier than the ones at the orphanage. There is also this man in charge named Fagin. He is a thief and so are the other boys. Yet despite his apparent creepiness, he seems kind and welcomes Oliver into this new home.

That night, once all the boys are asleep, Fagin leaves and meets this burglar called Bill Sikes near the local tavern. He makes Sikes give him his valuables and then goes back to that shelter, where he identifies what each item is. Oliver wakes up and notices. That startles Fagin and he freaks out at Oliver. But he apologizes for scaring him.

The next morning, Sikes sends his girlfriend, Nancy, out. She goes to the shelter where Oliver is staying. The other kids welcome her. But she is there to collect money for Sikes.

At some point, Fagin sends the boys out to gather items. Oliver is teamed with Dodger.

While in town, Dodger steals a wallet from an old man. But Oliver is blamed and gets arrested. Then he is taken to court. Luckily, they clear the charges since Oliver is innocent. The elderly guy, whose name is Mr. Brownlow, decides to let Oliver stay with him in the country.

Sometime after settling in with Mr. Brownlow, Oliver wakes up to all these vendors on the street. They are looking for people to buy their items.

Back in London, Fagin and Sikes want Oliver back. Not only that, they also worry that he will tell on them. Sikes also forces Nancy to assist since Oliver trusts her.

The next day, Mr. Brownlow tells Oliver that he needs some books taken to the bookshop. Oliver is willing to do that. But before he leaves, Mr. Brownlow notices that Oliver looks similar to his long-lost niece, Emily.

Later, Oliver is back in London enjoying a puppet show. Nancy notices him. But Sikes kidnaps him back to the shelter Fagin and his thief boys are staying in. Things do not go well there.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Corney are visiting Mr. Brownlow. They show him a locket that belonged to Oliver’s mom. He recognizes it as Emily’s. Then he asks Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Corney to leave.

Sikes is forcing Oliver to rob a house. But Oliver, who is frightened, accidentally drops something and wakes the owner up. Sikes takes him as he escapes.

Nancy is worried about Oliver. She goes to Mr. Brownlow and confesses that she had a part in Oliver’s abduction. Mr. Brownlow demands that she takes him to the kidnapper to get Oliver back. However, Nancy won’t do that or reveal the abductor’s identity. But she will save Oliver and let Mr. Brownlow pick him up from London Bridge.

That night, she goes to the tavern. Sikes’s dog, Bullseye, is guarding Oliver. Nancy decides to distract Sikes by having everyone sing and dance to a silly drinking song, “Oom-Pah-Pah,” led by her. At some point, she helps Oliver escape.

The two make it to London Bridge. Oliver hugs her as he says goodbye—only for Sikes to abduct him again. If that’s not bad enough, he kills Nancy.

What will happen next?

I will admit that this movie did not excite me as much as I hoped, despite the positive overall ratings and reviews online. One of the reasons was because of the dark undertones, especially at the beginning. Yes, that was important. But it still wasn’t that pleasing.

That being said, the movie did engage me a lot. I would constantly be curious about what would happen next. I would also hope that Oliver would receive kindness and sympathy, which he luckily did. That’s why it was super-satisfying when he met Dodger, who was willing to become his friend.

As the movie progressed, it did get better. The number of likable characters increased. I admired Oliver’s friendship with Dodger, trust in Nancy, and satisfaction with Mr. Brownlow. Oliver himself was shy, but innocent and polite.

There were also a good number of antagonists, like Mr. Bumble and Sikes. Mr. Bumble looked quite scary at the start of the film.

Fagin was a gray character for me. He treated Oliver better than Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Corney did. But he was known for stealing and getting the boys to do the same. In fact, that shelter he ran was actually a hideout for him and the kids. I had thought it was another orphanage.

One issue I had with this movie was that there wasn’t always enough in terms of explanation. I’ll confess that I found out on Wikipedia what that shelter was where Fagin stayed.

On the bright side, the musical numbers made the movie more intriguing, particularly since it’s around two and a half hours long. But it does have an intermission, which some films included during the 20^th century—especially lengthy musicals.

Regardless of how the musical numbers kept me from getting bored, I didn’t really develop a passion for any of them. I did find “Oom-Pah-Pah” catchy and silly. I also knew “Food, Glorious Food” since it was also sung in the second Ice Age movie in 2006 (with some of the lyrics changed). Otherwise, they were just decent to good. Some got a little long, as well.

Overall, I thought Oliver was decent. I still think it is worth seeing, though, as there are more strengths than weaknesses.

I give this film 3.5 out of 5 stars.