Twist
SKY CINEMADiscovering the meaning behind the title of this latest Sky Cinema offering is a conundrum. What exactly is the twist within Twist? Is it that Michael Caine, the two-time Academy Award winner and all-round great actor, has cropped up in the latest Martin Owen film? That is quite the twist, although not a pleasant or surprising one. His deal with Sky Arts has been struck, and with it comes the latest offering of drab, emotionless filmmaking. Bringing the classic works of Charles Dickens to the realms of the modern world and comedy crime thrills and throwing thick layers of graffiti over the unique prose of the novel, Twist is neither endearing or engaging.
Taking its damp haired, denim-jacket wearing rebel of a leading character and thrusting him into a world of acceptance between a group of young misfits and thieves, Twist shows all it has to offer within its first few minutes. The offer on the table is of little worth or value, the extreme close-ups and low-hanging, grounded camerawork sees tilted angles and quick cuts that hope to unearth talent or charm. With such valiant, stalwart efforts, it may come as a surprise to see them totally, utterly fail. Not just in bringing out anything competent, but in bringing out one tangent or singular string of interest and entertainment. Value is not something Owen or his cast understand, and instead of a mismatched rework of Twist, there is instead the overpowering, potent stench of creatively bankrupt minds looking to fling any old classic into the modern world, for the hopes it may add an extra zero onto the end of their bank accounts.
Absent of heart and soul, Twist is an inconvenience. A slog to work through and even worse film to analyse or bother understanding. There is no message or meaning throughout, odd considering the prose of Dickens was filled to the brim with themes and styles that broke down the working-class orphans who clamoured for acceptance during tough times. There is a meek semblance of that found here, not something that is followed through entirely, but the pockets of coherent narrative do try and relay ideas that are, obviously, better suited to the written word. Owen has no control over his camera, and in his rush to find an action style that works for him, clusters every staggering negative that comes with quick-cut, shaky camera styles. Incompetence reigns as Owen attempts a modern adaptation, yet finds himself six years behind the times, throwing in utterly useless call-backs to moments of pop culture that died long ago.
Insultingly poor, not just for Dickens but for those poor souls that will see Caine’s face on the poster and be drawn into this messy drivel for no other reason than his appearance. Unrewarding, pathetic filmmaking that sees a director’s last gasp at relevance, Twist is as confused as those that sat through and dared to ask what was going on. Any film featuring Leigh Francis should be shot into the stratosphere, never to be used as anything but a tool for visual waterboarding. Twist will use its London-based landscape as a backdrop for budding young performers, and Rita Ora. There are times in life where creativity dips into the murky depths of humourless bile, Twist marks one such moment, of which there is a worrying increase.