Oliver Twist [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Oliver Twist (2005) / O.S.T. Artist

Academy award-winning composer {|Rachel Portman|} ({|Emma|}, {|Chocolat|}, {|Cider House Rules|}) paints {|Roman Polanski|}'s vision of {|Charles Dickens|}' beloved tale of {|Oliver Twist|} with such wide pastoral strokes of melody that she may as well be scoring the entire English countryside. Like {|Thomas Newman|} without all of those pesky {|atonal|} sevenths, {|Portman|} gives 19th century London an instantly engaging sense of place. Utilizing a main cue that sounds like a combination of {|Ennio Morricone|}'s {|Ecstasy of Gold|} and {|When Johnny Comes Marching Home|} filtered through {|Eleanor Rigby|} -- it's not as cool as it sounds, but it is awfully beautiful -- {|Portman|}'s character motifs, especially {|The Artful Dodger,|} who is all harp and woodwinds, fit like a glove. Much has been said of the irony of {|Polanski|} making a family film, and that his take on {|Twist|} is surprisingly tame and traditional, but both he and {|Portman|} are so on the same page emotionally that it's impossible to walk away uninspired. ~ James Christopher Monger