White Oleander

Although not a perfect film by any stretch (too many things happen without any seeming rationale behind them and some of the most important plot points are too vague), White Oleander still kept me intrigued, thanks mainly to the great performances by Pfeiffer (extraordinary in her restraint - brilliant characterization), Renee Zellweiger (achingly vulnerable here) and the extremely talented Alison Lohman (who's in nearly every scene and never hits a false note - and the fact that she sort of looks like Kirsten Dunst doesn't hurt either).

A lot of critics are saying the film is too melodramatic or not 'weepy' enough, when in fact I found the movie's greatest strength (along with the performances) to be in how UNmelodramatic it is; there's a lot of restraint taken in the scenes that could have played like an afternoon soap, and I also appreciated how the film DIDN'T wind up as a tearjerker but rather took a grittier approach by portraying Astrid as an ultimate survivor in her sad and lonely journey toward independence.

With no expectations of anything beyond the average I was aware as I viewed this film that it was a quality beyond most mainstream films currently available. We all left fairly stunned and stumbling into the daylight at the conclusion. Slowly devastatingly and utterly integral, at no point was the audience's intelligence insulted, the depth of characters, plot and script evenly executed with no room for anything but knowing we the audience were in for something special. Don't expect any black and white conclusions or answers, just the complexities of dynamics between kin and otherwise. . . brilliantly cast. I hope Michelle Pfieffer earns her first oscar here . . . comparable to American Beauty, I don't know why - but as poignant, beautiful, truthful and important. Beautiful soundtrack and to look at, pace perfect.

I have just one word: Wow.

I saw this movie not expecting much and was completely blown away. The story and especially the acting was incredible! INCREDIBLE. I am now and forever will be a devoted Alison Lohman fan. I've never seen anyone take a character and make it more real than she did with Astrid. She made me cry more than once. It is amazing to watch it all the way through and then start it over again just to reaffirm the amazing transformation the character goes through from beginning to end. She not only looks different but her mannerisms are also so innocent and naive in the beginning. It's unbelievable. I have to say I am completely angry that her acting was not mentioned in any awards, nominations, or anything by Hollywood.

All the acting was incredible. Robin Penn, Renee' Zellwegger, Michelle Pfieffer; all did outstanding! I've never hated Michelle Pfieffer before but she did an incredible job being someone you could truly be disgusted with. Also loved the job...and sorry to do this but the guy who was in Almost Famous...have no idea what his name is...did. The love story between Astrid and him is very sweet.

As I said before I was very blown away by this movie. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone and hope it gets more popular as time goes on.

White Oleander was a great book, but there are a few nagging omissions in the movie. For some reason, Michelle Pfeiffer is an artist and not a poet in the movie (was the focus group confused?) Noah Wyle's character's name changed from Ron to Mark for some unknown reason.

More importantly, so much was left out of the movie. Before Alison Lohman's character goes to Claire's place (Zellwegger's), she endures lots more than what the movie shows. There is zero mention of the Van Nuys house with the racist foster mom, the black woman next door, the next place which was the Argentinian woman who had a padlock on the fridge etc.. In the book, Claire's place was like an oasis of peace and tranquility, and love. This did not come through the way it should have. Claire was just a short episode in the movie too, which was wrong.

On the plus side the acting was great, Pfeiffer; beautiful but with that dagger glare; Wright Penn as the white trash hypocrite; Renee as the insecure actress and Alison Lohman as a girl going through foster homes and living in her own prison. Good enough movie if you haven't read the book, but a letdown for me.

"White Oleander," adapted from Janet Fitch's best-selling novel, is hard and edgy about the bond between single mother and daughter, letting us see the reality of a strong artistic mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) tyrannizing her gifted daughter (Alison Lohman). After murdering her lover, mom goes to prison and daughter goes on an odyssey of self discovery in foster families, reminiscent of Burt Lancaster's episodic journey in John Cheever's `The Swimmer.'

In the first home, Robin Wright Penn's fundamental Christian presides over a frenetic household but reveals the sweet chaos of people who really love each other. In the next home, vulnerable actress, foster mom Renee Zellweger brings intimate caring to Lohman at an emotional price. Russian rag picker Svetlana Efremova brings hard-nosed business into Lohman's sights to complete an education of survival. Lohman finds loving understanding with Patrick Fugit, another artist in her life, but one without an agenda.

It's been a while since I've seen as good a job at depicting the effects of a strong but flawed mother on her strong but impressionable daughter. `Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood' tried with Ellen Burstyn as mother and Sandra Bullock as daughter, but the film failed to engage beyond a few shouts and eccentric southerners. `Oleander' has a brilliant artist manipulator teaching her daughter to be independent, even cold, to survive, yet the daughter has a need to be loved that draws her to older men, Christianity, and rebellion. Her psychic search for her absent father serves only to exacerbate the matter.

Pfeiffer does her best work here-- beautiful even in prison, she plays an ugly soul capable of the worst emotional tyranny over her sensitive, intelligent daughter, played with heart-breaking insight by Lohman. I was pleased with Kirsten Dunst last year in "crazy/beautiful." Just substitute Alison Lohman this year.