secondtake White Oleander (2002)The harrowing journey of a teenage girl through a series of foster parent and foster home situations because her mother went to jail for murder. On the surface this is about survival in a hostile world, and one layer down it's about getting to know her mother and what a mother's love is all about. But even deeper we get to know what this adolescent girl is all about, with growing complexity, and growing interest and concern.There are two keys here, the layered and ever changing story, based on the bestseller by the same name, and the lead actress, Alison Lohman. Both Lohman and director Peter Kosminsky come out of television work, and for Lohman, this is her breakout film into Hollywood (she was in a Ridley Scott movie after this, and then played the young Jessica Lange character in the fabulous "Big Fish" a couple years later). Lohman makes her character really sympathetic but in a hardened way, never cloying, and never clichéd.But she has fabulous support along the way. Two of her foster mothers are given juicy roles that are played with conviction--Robin Wright Penn as a born again floozy, Renee Zelwegger as a needy but caring actress out of work--and her biological mother is played with icy slipperiness by Michelle Pfeiffer. That's a weirdly amazing cast. And well constructed, very serious. In all, the editing is usually pretty fast, the filming is visually smart without being overly seductive, and the writing (and screen writing) is sharp as an Xacto knife. All the while, watching and being impressed, you will also realize it's "just a movie." You can feel the presence of the film world, a glitzing up of characters, an unavoidable pandering to clichés to make it look and feel pretty. I don't mean that a hardhitting drama about the tragedy of a young girl's life has to be gritty and truthful and meaningful--but that was a possibility. And you can see how this film might have been something intensely moving without resorting to filmmaking tearjerker tricks (like the repeated glances through the windows near the end) or a bizarre deal-making finale.Reservations aside, I found myself more absorbed with each scene. A nice surprise.

collan dsilva I was really amazed at the performance delivered by the actors especially alison lohman, renee zellweger and michelle pfeiffer. This is a movie which delivers the story mentioned in the novel in the best possible way. Nice direction and cinematography as well. I was especially amazed by the 2 scenes which showed the location - Ladera Heights in Los Angeles,CA. The way this location was used, the background music (sound created by sea waves), the scene at that moment .. everything was quite intriguing. I repeated that scene many times and thought before dying I should stay in a home like that for at least a week. Ms Zellweger did quite a nice job of a faithful wife devoted to her husband and really felt bad for wht happened later. Its very difficult to get a wife that devoted to her hubby and if a woman like that exists then she should choose a right partner. Pfeiffer's cold-blooded view on life was a little out of the league. But given her life story nothing else wud have been expected. Robin Wright reminded me of so called "God's people" who just read the scriptures and never follow it in their lives. Lohman did a great job acting in various circumstances was at her best through the movie. Overall I give 10 out of 10 and recommend it for people who believe that life's not fair for everyone and for those who want a Feel GOOD movie!

aimless-46 It is likely that if you enjoyed "Speak" (2004) you will connect with "White Oleander" (2002). Both are based on novels about a traumatized teenage girl who overcomes mega-adversity; heroines who get stronger as the story progresses. Both are told entirely from the point-of- view of this central character; Melinda (Kristen Stewart) in "Speak" and Astrid (Alison Lohman) in "White Oleander". Both actresses are physically small and the directors in each film effectively utilize this to reinforce their vulnerability. And each Cinematographer gets maximum effect from the camera as both films are filled with tight shots of the heroine's face. Like Stewart, Lohman gives an incredible non-verbal performance, which is nicely offset by her voice-over narration. Astrid's flat and distanced narration is often contradicted by the crushing emotional trauma she is experiencing on the screen, this dichotomy is a very effective way to illustrate her inner strength and multi- dimensionality. "White Oleander's" strength is the way it soft-peddles the overwrought melodrama by skimping on the "Mommie Dearest" moments. Instead of a focus on the relationship between an imprisoned mother (Ingrid-played Michelle Pfeiffer) and her abandoned daughter, the film is about Astrid's journeys; her physical travels around the Los Angeles area to different foster care situations and her internal journey from dependency to independence. Mother and daughter are both artists (although Astrid is also an observer) and the director symbolically incorporates color into the story. White is "Ingrid's color and Astrid's eventual independence occurs when she adopts black as her color late in the film. When she finally comes to terms with how much of her mother is in her, she returns to white. The blondes are out in force as Robin Wright Penn and Renee Zellweger play two of Astrid's foster mothers. All three supporting performances are excellent. Pfeiffer plays a humorless version of her "I Could Never Be Your Woman" mother; a mix of ascetically refined artist and imperious sociopath. Lohman has all of Pfeiffer's delicate beauty so the mother-daughter connection requires no suspension of disbelief. Astrid's foster kid desperation for family leads her to adopt the characteristics of her caretakers, adopting religion while with born-again ex-stripper Starr (Wright Penn) and yuppie indulgence while with depressed actress Claire (Zellweger). There's a tragic quality to Claire that is unlike anything Zellweger has done before. She is the anathema of Astrid's chilly, threatened mother. This is a film where the make-up and hair people earned their pay as Astrid's adaptation and life changes are underscored with very effective changes in her physical appearance. As in "Speak" flashbacks are effectively used at points throughout the story. The DVD special features commentary is about as good as it gets. The author Janet Fitch is featured along with Director Peter Kosminsky and Producer John Wells. Fitch seems quite pleased with the adaptation of her novel and seems to get it that a modest budget feature film can only focus on a portion of her original story. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Angelina Perez-Derossi I was so extremely disappointed by this movie. I read Janet Fitch's book last year before I even saw the movie, and so much of the book was left out of the movie it was unreal. Then to make the matter worse most of the parts they included in the movie were not accurate with the book. Such as when Astrid went to live with Star. They left out so much of this, and Star's daughter looked the complete opposite of the way she was described in the book. Much of Astrid's relationship with Ray was left, and Ray didn't even look the part. The acting was weak even for a movie constantly portrayed on lifetime, all of the acting was unrealistic and looked amazingly scripted. I'm not even sure they indclued the part of the book when Astrid went to live with the religious woman and all of the other girls that starved, or when Astrid went to live with the couple in the trailer when she got all of her scars. I love Janet Fitch's book, but when I tryed to watch the movie I fell asleep both times.