Retelling of “Oliver Twist” in modern-day New York gay demimonde gets an A for effort and a B+ for execution.  “Twisted” will be a must for the gay fest circuit – where it’s already played in New York and Boston – and has the potential to cross over in limited arthouse situations.  Low-budget debut by helmer Seth Michael Donsky is an original, but it’s going to be a tough sell.

         Lee (Keivyn McNeil Graves) is a homeless orphan who is picked up by the artful Fine Art (Jean-Loup Wolfman) and brought into the house of Andre (William Hickey).  Andre is the Fagin of the story transformed into an aging Eurotrash pimp who wears a smoking jacket and speaks with refinement.

         The heavy is Eddie (Anthony Crivelo), the Bill Sykes character, who terrorizes eveyuone, especially his lover, Angel (David Norona).  Finding a shared love of music.  Angel takes a brotherly liking to Lee, and that bit of unselfish kindness annoys Andre and angers Eddie.  Lee and Angel’s only ally is Shiniqua, a surprisingly tough drag queen.  Subsequent story follows the lines Charles Dickens laid down more than a century ago, while always staying true to present-day milieu.

         The standouts in the cast are Hickey and Norona, making the most of the meatiest parts in the film.  Hickey could have easily turned Andre into a parody, but the vet actor pulls back as often as he threatens to go over the top.  Norona’s Angel is pic’s emotional center (as was the Nancy character in the original) and is clearly up to the task.  Oddly, Grieves is largely a cipher as Lee, and while writer-director Donsky offers some background on his situation, the character remains little more than a pawn of the others.

         Donsky makes use of limited budget and sets, with the film looking crisp and polished thanks to Hernan Toro’s cinematography.  Sound is fine except when distorted in flashback sequences which take place while present-day characters remain on the screen; devise makes a virtue of budget necessity, but comes off confusing at first, and a bit of an affectation later on.

         -- Daniel Kimmel