Twist (2003) Reviews

• Fantastic

  Prettylittlelie2004-12-09

  Nick Stahl's desperate stare sold the movie for me, I rented it based on the cover, having never heard of it. This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. Joshua Close's performance wasn't all that good, but Nick Stahl's was phenomenal. The movie was really emotional but really subtle. It has an excellent soundtrack, matching every scene to emotional perfection. It's a twist on Oliver Twist but set in modern day Toronto and with male prostitution and heroin instead of pick-pocketing. Don't get hung up on the comparison, look at it as it's own movie. It has the best ending to any movie I've ever seen. Essentialy it's about the blurry lines between affectionate contact, sexual contact, and violent contact. The movie forces you to bottle your emotions by never actually showing explicit sex or violence, it keeps you from getting any release. I think the method worked perfectly. The only two problems with the movie in my mind, are that Joshua Close was cast, and that although the subtleness is excellent, it's sometimes hard to hear every word of the dialogue, so keep it up load and pay close attention.

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• Great Film - Dark and Powerful

  jshaw3-12004-08-17

  I really enjoyed the film. Although the production was not up to par the film was done well. The acting was incredible, Nick Stahl has gone up in my opinion and the way the darkness of the story was told without being in your face about it was re-freshing. The music at the end of the movie was incredible and I can't wait until the soundtrack comes out. Does anyone know of any the artist that perform the music in the movie? I do not understand why some people do not like the picture. From a story book perspective I do believe that the movie measures up to Private Idaho, although I would put the production quality at a lower level.

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• lot of truth

  evena0012004-10-18

  I would say that most people are not aware of and are very naiive about street life, and that that might influence their perceptions of this movie. I enjoyed it and thought it touched on a lot of issues that very rarely get touched on, and thought that while some portions were a little overdrawn, overall it was a very moving pieve of film that had a lot of truth embedded in it. I would say that the people here that say that they have seen "too many movies about hustling" have probably never had the experience themselves. One cinematic exploration is surely enough for them, I suppose. However, if you have not been exposed to "too many" hustler movies already, I would encourage you to check it out. The acting is superb and I especially liked Joshua Close.

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• Thought provoking, moving, dark yet magnetic

  flyboyrob2003-09-16

  You cannot help but get sucked into this film... Beautifully acted, exquisitely filmed. Throughout the film, you want to jump on the screen and rescue Oliver. The audience at the Toronto International Film gasped in unison throughout the film... A fantastic adaptation of Dickens' masterpiece; who knew that today's Toronto could be as darkly sinister as Dickens' London?

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• A heart wrenching experience

  SphericalTime2004-09-20

  Jacob Tierney does a wonderful job in this movie simply by playing to his actor's strengths. This movie drags the audience through a Arnofskesque journey through a world where there is never a happy ending, and does a fantastic job of it. The play between the boys (and girls) stuck in Vancouver's shadowy underbelly of sex and drugs illustrates just how lonely the sex industry is for the de facto children caught in it. The character of Dodge is particularly well played by the often typecast Nick Stahl. Despite typecasting (which is often a sign of true talent in at least one area), he pulls the bitterness of the role right out into the open and twists it slowly between his hands. Tierney's auteurship of the piece does create a uniqueness that might otherwise be subsumed by various facets of previously done works.

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