Please, sir, no more 'Oliver Twist's

On first reflection, Polish director Roman Polanski — Oscar winner for The Pianist — seems an odd choice to bring Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist to the screen for the umpteenth time.

Yet without warping the saga of a castoff orphan lad treated cruelly by a heartless British social structure and justice system, Polanski attempts to turn it into a personal story of survival.

Columbia Pictures 'Oliver Twist' C+ The verdict: A faithful, but not distinctive, rendering of Dickens' classic yarn, with Kingsley's Fagin the only standout. Director: Roman Polanski Starring: Ben Kingsley, Barney Clark, Jamie Foreman, Frank Finlay, Harry Eden Run time: 130 minutes Release date: September 30, 2005 Rating: PG-13 for disturbing images. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Oliver Twist'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

That biographical undercurrent almost makes the journey worth taking, for otherwise Polanski and his Pianist screenwriter Ronald Harwood have produced a fairly ordinary rendering of the familiar tale.

It does deliver the expected sequences — little Oliver asking for more gruel at the orphanage workhouse; his welcome into a life of crime by the Artful Dodger and Fagin; the kindly efforts of wealthy Mr. Brownlow; the gruff entrance of cutthroat Bill Sykes; and the general atmosphere of grimy, inclement London.

But if you sense that you have seen all this done better elsewhere, maybe you, too, are remembering David Lean's 1948 version with Alec Guinness as Fagin.

Polanski has a worthy Fagin in Ben Kingsley, a wily little crook with a threadbare appearance and dreadful teeth, more an object of pity whom even Oliver ultimately forgives. But perhaps the budget got squandered on Kingsley, for none of the other performers can hold the screen against him. Tiny Barney Clark hardly makes an impression in the title role.

The period sets, built in Prague, look good, but they, too, upstage most of the actors in a rendering that must have sounded better in Polanski's pitch meeting than it plays out onscreen.