Rating: 
Summary: it was only "o.k."
Review: I think the point of this movie is to show 2 things (1) how your kid can grow up totally different without your parenting (2) just how bad broken home/ foster care really is. IT was a good movie, but it was a bit slow to get to the point, and really didnt have the ending I was hoping for. It also at times was very far fetched: like her moms power over people, the jesus love'n gun happy wife, the suicidal lady, etc.
Rating: 
Summary: a captivating, and pretty good film...
Review: which even though it offers nothing new has some memorable performances,and touching moments.this movie tends to get a bit trite, and fails to live up to it's full promis at the end, but I think it is nonetheless a touching and enjoyable film which can be watched over and over again.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a well made and powerful movie......5 stars!
Review: White Oleander is a powerful movie. I watched the movie and, unlike other family-related conflict type of movies, I found this to be more realistic and more true to life experience for some families. I understand that the book, usually books do, provide more detail information. I am not arguing that position. In the close to two hours of this film, the main character, Astrid, played by Alison Lohman is dynamic, emotionally in a very real and artistic way presenting her role, psychologically she has played each part as an actress and as the character. For readers who have read the book, I would only say that the book, set apart, from what really happens to these young children is in many respects worlds apart. This is were fiction and non-fiction as well as theory and practice are also apart. I have not only lived in neighborhoods in which children have had to undergo transistions and changes such as Astrid, but have also worked with some of these youths. As a film, I praise the unfolding structure: the beginning, the middle, and the ending piece. The character, Astrid, is divided, fragmented, emotionally torned apart, and is trying to keep it together. Despite all the challenges, obstacles, hurdles, and life struggles, she reaches a point in her suffering were she finds it in her heart to search for peace and to start a new beginning away from all the turmoil, conflict, instability. I cannot praise this film enough. It is a powerful film. I would highly recommend this film to parents, social workers, lawyers, psychologists, and other persons involved in working with our troubled youths. Many thanks........ Diego Rodriguez
Rating: 
Summary: boo! read the book instead!
Review: This painfully boring and mild screenplay leaves so much to be desired. It's slow. It just doesn't come close to the drama and emotion of the book. Left out are so many of the foster homes- some truly defining moments of Astrid's life. I was so excited to see the movie- but i had to watch it in 2 sittings - it just wasn't riveting in the least. A lot of the acting is forced- it seems to be they hurriedly filmed this just to get it out in a timely manner, ignoring art- except they did make an attempt to make it interesting with the "blair witch"-like cinematography (the shaky camera, etc.). Which shouldn't have been so noticable. Take the time to read the book.
Rating:
Summary: Poisonous Flowers, Poisoned Lives
Review: In an ideal world, one imagines humans being free to love and never feeling rejected or having to reject. A world where loneliness doesn't exist and people open their hearts to allow love to flow freely through the world. Perhaps as human beings we can never reach this higher plane of existence since we struggle so much with the idea of unconditional love. Love is at times taken away at the first instance of another's rejection. To give love at times means to accept hurt or to be hurt by those you try to love in an unconditional way. This movie really captured my attention from beginning to end. You can feel everything the characters experience. That is so rare these days. You can feel the hate, the love, the fear, the loneliness, the rejection, the acceptance. There is an element of dark beauty in this sometimes emotionally intense drama adapted from Janet Fitch's bestseller (an Oprah's Book Club selection). There are elements in this movie which seem to be mocking religious beliefs, however if you look deeply into the movie and see the true meaning, what I think the movie is saying is: "It is more important to live out your beliefs and do good to others, than to say you believe in God/Jesus and then to treat others with disrespect." Or at least the main message is that you should live what you believe. At first, I thought this was going to be another "bash religion" movie, and I was pleasantly surprised at the end. Some of the main themes include the concepts of loneliness and making mistakes. Astrid Magnussen (Alison Lohman who is a great actress and I can't wait to see her in other films) is not only looking for a father figure in her life, she has had to deal with a less-than-perfect foster care system where she becomes "Nobody's" child. This is a world where more than 450,000 children are living in a foster care situation. She is a victim of her own desire to be loved by a father and sees loving older men (her foster "father") as a way to obtain love. She is therefore the victim of sexual abuse. Astrid's mother, Ingrid Magnussen (Michelle Pfeiffer), rejects religion and believes her daughter must fight the urge to accept love because she feels loneliness. She thinks to survive, you must fight and destroy. So, when the man in her life cheats on her, she kills him with the poison of oleander flowers in a fit of jealousy. She destroys not only her life, but her daughters life. Once her mother is in prison, Astrid must struggle to survive in various Los Angeles foster homes. She encounters a "not so" born-again Christian (not exactly an example of Christ shall we say), a suicidal housewife and a Russian business woman. Only the housewife really seems to give Astrid what she longs for: "A mother who cares about her and shows her the meaning of love." But as the story unfolds, we see that time and time again, it is the men in this story who seem to be making the lives of the women more difficult. When the housewife (Renée Zellweger) has to chose between keeping Astrid or sending her back to save her marriage, she hurts more people than just herself to keep a man who she has already lost. Not only does Astrid have to live in these disharmonious households, she is the victim her own beauty and seems to be living in a world where women hate her. At a young age, she has to deal with neglect, desertion and brutality. All she wants to find is acceptance, self-worth, a sense of security and love. Throughout the time her mother is in prison, they write letters to each other. Astrid must decide if she will follow her mother's advice or the deepest desires of her heart. A poetic start, a tragic story about the loneliness of the human condition and a great ending. This is about survival and about finding love. Beautiful in a painful way.
Rating:
Summary: A STAR IS BORN...
Review: This is a film adaptation of the best selling novel of the same name. I cannot say whether as an adaptation it is faithful to the book, not having read it, as yet. What I can say is that is an excellent drama, marked by a breakout performance by Alison Lohman. She is positively inspiring in the role of Astrid, a young, pre-pubescent girl of twelve whose life is torn apart when her mother, a beautiful, brilliant, and talented artist, is convicted of murder. The film chronicles Astrid's coming of age and the way that she deals with the vicissitudes of life, as she grows into a young woman. Ms. Lohman plays Astrid from ages twelve through about twenty, as believable at twelve as she is at twenty, no easy transition to make. Yet, she does so brilliantly. The film is about a number of things. It is about exploration of the proverbial mother/daughter relationship. It is about the breaking of myths. It is about coping with tragedy and reality. It is about working with the hand with which one has been dealt in life. It is about love. It is about hate. It is about reconciliation. It is about redemption. Astrid and her mother, Ingrid, lead a materially comfortable life. Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer) is a narcissistic, successful artist, with a cynical view on life who tries to inculcate and control her daughter with her own personal, unorthodox philosophy. Astrid, a sensitive, intelligent, and artistically gifted child, who is mature beyond her years, adores her mother, viewing her through rose colored glasses, even when Ingrid fails in meeting the most basic of parental responsibilities. Ingrid cheerfully chooses to go to an opening of a friend's gallery show rather than attend parents' night at her daughter's school. After all, as she explains to Astrid, what can the school tell her about her daughter that she does not already know? Astrid's feelings about Ingrid are put to the test, when her mother gives in to her violent passions and kills her lover. Convicted and sentenced to prison for many years, Ingrid is separated from Astrid, and Astrid's comfortable, though unorthodox, world is rendered asunder. Astrid would begin a long and painful, personal journey and a coming of age that would not be easy, as she attempts to reconcile the mother she thought she knew with the mother that she is just really starting to get to know. The mythic is now approaching reality. Astrid goes through a number of foster homes but each time that Ingrid senses that Astrid is getting attached to her foster mother or her foster family, Ingrid does what she can to poison the well, until she finally crosses the line. As Astrid grows up and starts to understand her mother's machinations, an emotional schism begins, one that is painful both to mother and daughter, with self-realization and reconciliation as outgrowths of their painful discovery. Michelle Pfeiffer is brilliant as the coldly diabolical Ingrid, a woman who would sacrifice her child's happiness in order to retain emotional control over that child. She is as poisonous as the beautiful white oleander flower, whose appearance belies its deadly nature. Robin Penn Wright is wonderful as Starr, Astrid's first foster mother, a born again Christian and former alcoholic exotic dancer with a heart of gold, who is looking to hang on to her man no matter what the cost. It is in her home that Astrid gets a reality check in the cruelest of ways. Removed from that home, Astrid is then sent to the home of Claire (Renee Zellweger) and her hunky husband (Noah Wylie). It is with Claire that Astrid begins to have a true mother/daughter relationship, provoking Ingrid's jealousy. Ingrid moves in for the kill, manipulating Claire's insecurities in order to separate Claire and Astrid. What Ingrid does, however, has tragic consequences and serves to further alienate Astrid from her. Renee Zellweger gives a moving and sweetly poignant performance as the hapless Claire. When Astrid is also removed from this home, she ends up in an institution with other children with no place to go. There, she meets a young man (Patrick Fugit) who is also artistic and Astrid bonds with him. When Astrid talks to her mother about him and his art, Ingrid disparages him, trying to drive a wedge between Astrid and her young man. She succeeds somewhat, and Astrid cuts herself off from him and, in the process, from herself and from Ingrid. Refusing to opt for a traditional foster family when pushed to do so, no longer hopeful of making a loving, familial connection, she chooses, instead, to live with an unorthodox foster mother, a Russian immigrant (Zvetlana Efremova) and modern day Fagin. It is here that Astrid totally separates from herself and from her past, until a set of circumstances compel a confrontation with her mother. It is one in which Ingrid has an opportunity to make a decision that a real mother would make. It is also a decision that has the ability to make or break Astrid. This well nuanced film is superb, with phenomenal performances, but none more so that that of Alison Lohman. How she failed to receive an Academy Award nomination, I will never know. Kudos also go to director Peter Kosminsky for exacting wonderful and sensitive performances from the entire cast. The film also points out the problems with the foster care system. It shows how children are often placed with dysfunctional families. It delineates the often large gap between expectations and reality in terms of the parenting skills of the respective foster parents. The lack of knowledge of the quality of care the child is receiving, as well as its ignorance of the actual familial dynamics, is also brought home. This is an infinitely sad and somewhat depressing film, notwithstanding its overall excellence.
Rating:
Summary: watered down, still good
Review: While the movie version did not stray from the book, there were a LOT of very important details left out, and I was a little more than disappointed. However, it is a PG-13 film, and so I guess that excuses the leave-outs. I recommend reading it before you see it.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Movie!
Review: White Oleander is the best movie I have seen in a very long time. This powerful movie held my attention from beginning to end. I have it in my DVD collection. A must see movie!
Rating:
Summary: an A grade movie that follows an A grade book.
Review: White Oleander is one of the best books I have ever read. This movie does not stray, keeping much of the magic intact. While most books turned into movies are only based on the books, White Oleander breaks this mold. It is a truly wonderful movie, and it will make you appreciate everything you have.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointed
Review: First off, did everyone read the book. I did, and it was a great book, very detailed, loved it. Maybe it's just me but I wanted to see all the characters from the novel. Everyone and everything Astrid came in touch with. She didn't even have the scars on her body from the dog attack, which was very significant to the story. You never got to see how Astrid grew up with all the moving around, it was mentioned in the movie, but it wasn't even the correct amount of times. I gave it two stars only because Pfeiffer played her role perfectly.
| 
