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Customer Reviews of White Oleander

Memorable Performances in a Highly Dramatized Movie
White Oleander, featuring Michelle Pfeiffer and Alison Lohman, is the movie based on the book by Janet Fitch. Viewers of the Oprah Winfrey daytime television show and readers will recall that this book was one of Oprah's book club selections. Now this compelling and disturbing book has been brought to the silver screen in what many viewers will agree was an intriguing and well-crafted movie. And rarely, if ever in my opinion, has a movie been so finely done or as faithful to the book as was done in this movie. In addition the cast was well chosen and the performances are creatively superb, handling a most difficult subject.

Michelle Pfeiffer, in the lead role, plays Ingrid Magnusson, a single parent and artist who is raising her adolescent daughter Astrid played by Alison Lohman. Ingrid is an incredibly selfish woman with a Bohemian lifestyle who treats Astrid more like a friend than her child. While Ingrid's life is dictated by her passions and whims, Astrid is merely a bystander to the lifestyle Ingrid dictates for them. When she is angered by the rejection of her current lover and while Astrid sits in their car, Ingrid poisons her lover with the inner juice of a white oleander plant ultimately killing this man. When Ingrid is arrested by the police, Astrid is removed from their home by social services and becomes a ward of the state. Now the focus of the movie shifts from Astrid as Ingrid's daughter and work in progress to Astrid, a child who will become much too familiar with the foster care system in Southern California. Unfortunately for Astrid, the foster homes she stays in are less than happy situations for her and she also must contend with Ingrid's views of her foster mothers as she goes from home to home, learning more about the seamier side of life than any child should have to learn at this pivotal time in her life. And all the while Astrid remains loyal to Ingrid as she continues to be subjected to her when she visits Ingrid in prison.

This is a movie populated mainly by an all female cast. Michelle Pfeiffer plays Ingrid with a mixture of anger and compassion about her situation and Astrid's circumstances. And both Renee Zellwegger and Robin Wright Penn shine as two very different types of foster mothers who greatly influence Astrid's life. But if the movie belongs to one actor it is Astrid played by Alison Lohman who shines as the confused young woman forced to face life as an adult way before her time. And the last scene as Astrid becomes an artist in her own right and creates valises filled with the faces and objects of her life which remains with the viewer long after the movie ends.

I found this to be an excellent movie especially since I read the book. The director and other associates are to be commended for tastefully presenting a difficult subject to the audience in such a fine manner. One is left with a feeling of hope that Astrid, despite her early difficulties will succeed as an adult.

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good adaptation of a great novel
we all know that the book-to-movie process is indeed a difficult one and most film makers worry too often they'll be criticized severely for not following the author's intended themes. i can thankfully say that the makers of white oleander did try very hard to follow the themes and patterns of janet fitch's remarkable novel and i wasn't disappointed. in fact, i hope michelle pfieffer recieves atleast an oscar nomination for her performance here. white oleander is the story of a woman (played by michelle pfieffer) so heated up with jealousy that she plots to kill her love interest. after the love interest turns up dead, astrid is picked up by children's services and we follow her from foster home to home throughout the course of the film. from struggles with spiritual issues to blossoming womanhood, we see our protagonist's innocence shed like a snake's skin and we watch her magnificent change. through all the abuse and hardship she finds along her path, she also manages to encounter love and learn some of the hard lessons of life. i was nearly blown away by the performances of alison lohman and michelle pfieffer. i also believe robin wright-penn and renee zellweger were both effective in their roles although we don't get to spend too much time with them. however, i still think they could've included more story from the book as i don't think it's possible to squeeze a 445 pg novel into a 1hr. and 49 min. motion picture. aside from that, white oleander is probably one of the few films made these days which remains quite faithful to the book. if you haven't read the book yet, pick up a copy soon. if you have read the book and loved it, see the film.

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Stick to Tea
Men covet the hunt and women desire the perfect nest, so when we see a story about women and these women suffer in melodramatic fashion, we say this is a "Chick Flick." The men leave the room to drink beer in the garage. Well "White Oleander" did not threaten my burly manhood. I found the story compelling. I rooted for young teen, Alison Lohman. Her mother, Michelle Pfeiffer poisons a lover in a jealous rage. Consequently mom is arrested and gets 30 years in the slammer. Alison is shuttled from foster home to orphanage. Alison falls for the man toy of a Jesus freak and gets shot. Then terror girls at the orphanage jump her and she gets even. Renee Zellweger is L.A. as a substitute mom even if she is suicidal. The final foster home is all drugs and punk. So we see Allison morph from innocence to a worldly punk chick. Pfeiffer has a Feminist-Goddess hold on her daughter even from prison and her daughter must break away. This is the weakest part of the story, muddled. After all, mom should have kept her feminist panties on and her poison Oleander in the garden.