‘A Simple Twist of Fate’

With this captivating heart-tugger, Steve Martin (pictured) took an all-out plunge of basing this 1994 film on no less than George Eliot’s 1861 grim novel “Silas Marner.” What Martin, who also wrote the screenplay, and director Gillies MacKinnon have created in their free adaptation is a family film that might be best described as a serious comedy. Consistent with Martin’s growing collection of thinking man’s comedy (TMC Sunday at 7 p.m. and Friday at 7:10 p.m.).