Oliver travels a seven-day journey to London where he befriends a young boy named Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, who takes him to join a gang of pickpockets led by the villainous Fagin.

Oliver and Mr. Brownlow return home to continue their lives, whilst a crowd gather to witness preparations of Fagin's hanging.

The consensus reads, "Polanski's version of Dickens' classic won't have audiences asking for more because while polished and directed with skill, the movie's a very impersonal experience.

"[3] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

[4] A. O. Scott of The New York Times called it a "bracingly old-fashioned" film that "does not embalm its source with fussy reverence" but "rediscovers its true and enduring vitality."

"[5] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was similarly positive; he lauded the film as "visually exact and detailed without being too picturesque.

"[6] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle praised it as a "grounded and unusually matter-of-fact adaptation," continuing, "Polanski does justice to Dickens' moral universe, in which the motives and worldview of even the worst people are made comprehensible.

"[8] However, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone rated two out of four stars, calling it "drab and unfeeling" while "lacking the Polanski stamp."

"[9] Todd McCarthy of Variety echoed Travers' sentiments about Clark, labelling him "disappointingly wan and unengaging," while writing that the film was "conventional, straightforward" and "a respectable literary adaptation, but [lacking] dramatic urgency and intriguing undercurrents.

"[10] In the UK press, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian opined that while "[Polanski's] Oliver Twist does not flag or lose its way and is always watchable, the book's original power and force have not been rediscovered.

"[11] Philip French of The Observer wrote that the film was "generally disappointing, though by no means badly acted," and alleged that it lacked "any serious point of view about individuality, society, community.