 | |
| | Salesrank: 217858
|
|
|
|
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
|
Editorial Review:
Fine performances and sensitive direction keep White Oleander from being a routine tearjerker. Adapted from Janet Fitch's bestseller (an Oprah's Book Club selection), this hard-edged drama boasts a reputable cast, but 23-year-old newcomer Alison Lohman steals the film from her A-list costars. As a troubled teen whose controlling mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) has been jailed for murder, Lohman is the film's heart and soul, bouncing between foster homes and rushing toward independence in a world of disappointing adults. After surviving episodic stints with a trashy born-again Christian (Robin Wright Penn), a suicidal housewife (Renée Zellweger), and a Russian immigrant (Zvetlana Efremova), she finds comfort with another outcast (Patrick Fugit), leaving behind the mothers who failed her. Making his feature directorial debut, British stage and TV veteran Peter Kosminsky creates a showcase for formidable actresses, each given moments to shine. White Oleander lacks the emotional depth of Fitch's novel, but it speaks volumes about the delicate balance of freedom and responsibility. --Jeff Shannon
White Oleander Reviews:
incredible 
2009-07-06 - This is an absolutely first rate film, of a girl who must overcome a childhood with a manipulative, crazy, destructive single mother. The cast is simply stunning: Wright Penn, Zellweger, and Pfeiffer in perhaps her greatest performance.
The situation is that an adolescent, when her mother goes to prison, must go into the foster care system. What she experiences, as is the stuff of narratives, is truly horrible. Any time that she builds a relationship, it is destroyed or revealed as worthless. Throughout all of this, she begins to see her birth mother for what she is, and seeks to go her own way.
But her mother, even from prison, can control events by the relationships she can create. All over again, it is like a recapitulation of the daughter's entire life, which spurs her to seek the truth even at the cost of traducing her inner self. They have a terrible fight, played almost entirely off stage but understood in moments of simple dialogue, that is the fight for the girl's life itself.
Alison Lohman, as the daughter, is simply extraordinary. There is not a moment that rings false or hollywood-chinsey, but her pain and struggle is achingly real. Of course, the character has some talent, as an artist like her mother, but also in her ability to form relationships. She has seen so much pain and self-destruction, that she learns she must fend for herself. I do not think I have ever seen a film that succeeds so completely as a coming of age drama of finding a path through the pain. She becomes tough, but she does not lose the perceptive sensitive core that might show her a way to become a healthy, loving adult. It is amazing to watch and there is not a jot of sentimentality, only realistic tragedy and growth for what it is worth.
Warmly recommended. This is a moving journey that says so much about what youth must survive through our pathetically damaged social system and deficient public policy. Lohman is amazing and so are the other stars. This a both great drama and social commentary.
Loved the Book? DON'T See This Movie!! 
2009-07-01 - I give it two stars because it's a decent film. BUT, I absolutely love the book and this movie deviated from it. I don't feel it did it justice...pretty disappointing, really.
Smooth transaction
2009-06-08 - I love this movie & the transaction went without a hitch! Good, quick servvice and a great price! Thanks!
2.5 stars out of 4 
2009-02-03 - The Bottom Line:
As breezy as it is forgettable, White Oleander engages the viewer in its story of foster homes and relationships but never makes anything substantial out of its plot or characters.
Great cast, good movie
2008-10-23 - Never read the novel, but this screen version looked great to me. Much better than I expected. Excellent script, and just enough action to keep you hooked. Michelle Pfeiffer is a bit unbelievable as the evil mother, though. Nobody stays looking that good in prison.
