Rating: 
Summary: One of the BEST movies I've ever seen
Review: White Oleandar is a very "between the lines" type of movie. Very intense drama up front as Astrid deals with different foster homes. She is the young daughter of a mother who kills her boyfriend. It gives one a glimpse of the perils of the foster home system, yet, has an underlying message of a child who grows into a woman, and has to divorce herself from the controlling influence of her mother. I watched this movie again, in order to understand all of the underlying hidden messages. It also has a wonderful cast. Michelle Pffeifer is as usual strong and beautiful. Allison Lohman who plays Astrid, is wonderful as a child of 12 maturing into a teenager, and a young woman. I loved Robin Wright Penn as Starr, the jealous foster mother. Renee Zellwegger stands out as Claire, Astrid's second foster mother, who is loving, but insecure. She also is a threat to Astrid's own mother, who is jealous of the relationship between Claire and her daughter.. I recommend this movie to anyone. It is a classic... The book is just as good as the movie
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful book, defanged and diluted into a Lifetime movie
Review: I give this movie 3 stars mainly for the cast and their acting. Where to begin with my complaints?
Most of the realism, emotional power, and resonance of the book were watered down for a much more superficial film with a typical hokey Hollywood ending -- what that ending is I won't go into here. If you've read the book you'll know what I mean; I'll just say that it's totally out of character for Ingrid.
The film's characters of Ingrid and Claire, so well-drawn in the book that they seemed real, were pale shadows of their characters in the book. Ingrid in the book was one of the most unique, unforgettable characters ever created, with probably the most distinctive personality and way of speaking of any character in any book I've ever read. Very little of this was conveyed in the movie. And as for Claire in the book, when she died I was nearly as devastated as was Astrid -- her character was so delicately and hauntingly delineated. But once again, the movie version of this was not effective. To sum it up: in the movie Ingrid was merely cold, ruthless, cynical, and intelligent, and Claire was merely sweet and fragile. They were watered down and oversimplified from the book to the point that I know that time constraints weren't the issue here but sloppy screenwriting and/or editing.
Key events and characters in the book were changed or completely left out. It was a crime especially not to include Olivia, and Astrid's experiments with easy sex and drugs to numb her pain, but, oh, yes, the filmmakers were going for that all-important PG-13 rating. And why do I get the feeling that casting blonde Renee Zellweger as (in the book) Audrey Hepburnish brunette Claire was done to service their gimmick of the four blondes for the movie posters.
This movie is yet another example of an exquisite, nearly flawless book being butchered and sacrificed to the Hollywood marketing machine. But the talented cast, particularly Allison Lohman, did the best they could with the shallow material they were left with by the movie's powers-that-be.
Rating:
Summary: A diamond in the rough
Review: In the beginning of the movie you find Ingrid (Michelle Pheiffer) and Astrid (Alison Lohman) living the ideal life as a beautiful mother and daughter. After Ingrid becomes upset with her lover, she commits a crime of passion, putting her in prison and leaving Astrid to foster care. She encounters Robin Wright Penn, best known for her excellent performance in Forest Gump, as a christian mother who has a few issues of her own. She then comes across Renee Zellwegger who was my favorite of the foster mothers. While she was very delicate and sensitive, her character seemed the most put together, a lot of influence on her private life, and her feelings toward Astrid. She seemed to really care about her, rather than just provide a room. I stumbled upon this movie at Blockbuster, it wasn't advertised as much as it should have been, and I had never read the book, so I was compelled to check it out. Great book, great movie, and excellent performances by Pheiffer and Lohman. I would recommend this movie to anyone, a bit of a tearjerker, but something different amongst all of the movies that seem to carry the same romantic notion of love, loss and happy endings.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Drama
Review: From beginning to end, there is drama, drama, and more drama. The movie is well-written and acted. What's more is the soundtrack, by Thomas Newman I believe, adds an element of sadness for Astrid's, "little girl lost" theme. White Oleander is a story I've never seen before. It's a mostly female cast, starring a teenager growing up in foster care, and the ending was not what I expected at all. Ahhh...it's so nice to watch a movie I can't figure out the ending to in the first five minutes. ~Thanks Kosminsky!
Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring
Review: Some movies inspire me to want to read the book, some books make me long to see the characters and story on screen. This was one case where I read the book, and really couldn't wait to see the on screen version. It's unfortunate that very few moves maintain the full impact as their written counterparts. (Some do, the Harry Potter movies, and The Color Purple to name two) There was so much going on in White Oleander though that it would've made for an extremely long movie. The book is always better, but in this case, the movie was pretty good. You get some of the visual aspects with a touch of the emotion that's better detailed (and felt) in the book. For me, a keeper, both the book and the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Deep, moving, powerfull
Review: While I usually cannot take my eyes away from the impossibly beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer, this movie shows what is probably the only way to accomplish such a deed: put her side by side with Alison Lohman, who delivers a performance so powerful that grabs your attention away from the gorgeous, cold, intelligent and altogether monstrous character played by Michelle.
The movie is supported on its intense, rich characters, who struggle through difficult ordeals to find a way to reconcile their choices with their relationship as mother and daughter. Ingrid, desperately trying no to loose control of her daughter while spending time in prison, and Astrid, confused and torn by a demanding mother and a twisted world.
Do not miss this movie.
Rating:
Summary: doesn't live up to the power of the book
Review: A film by Peter Kosminsky"White Oleander" is the story of one girl's experience through the foster care system as she learns who she is, what she wants, and who she does not want to be. This is the story of Astrid (Alison Lohman), a 15 year old girl who is living with her mother, Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer). Ingrid is an "artist", with all of the pretensions that you can stereotype onto one character. Ingrid believes the way she does and anyone who does not believe as she does (about anything) is being intellectually dishonest. She encourages Astrid to think for herself, but it seems only if that means that Astrid's conclusions agree with Ingrid. Things would probably stay as they are, but when Ingrid is arrested for murder, Astrid is put into foster care and the movie truly begins. Astrid spends relatively brief stays with several foster homes. We see her at the home of Starr (Robin Wright Penn), a white trash born again Christian who speaks about Jesus an awful lot, but may not live like a Christian. Problems arise, and Astrid is moved to the orphanage to another home, that of Claire (Renee Zellweger). Claire is, to Astrid's view, the perfect foster mother. But, like before, something happens and she is moved to another home, that of Rena (Svetlana Efremova). Rena is an immigrant (from Russia?) and is entirely about making money. Through each of the stays in a foster home, Astrid is blending her personality with that of the foster mother, trying to figure out who she is. While this is happening, Astrid stays in touch with her mother and this is where we see the most growth for Astrid, in how she interacts with her mother. It is not fair to compare a movie with the book which it is based on because they are two entirely different forms of media, but sometimes a brief comparison needs to be mentioned. The film is filled with talented actresses and they turn in fine performances, but the film is missing "something" that keeps it from being a truly excellent film. The novel has a lot of emotional power that the film lacks (though there is one scene in particular that is very powerful, closer to the end of the film). That power is part of the "something" that is missing. There is nothing that is actually wrong with the film (despite some complaints with the ending), and it is competent, but it is simply not special at all. Alison Lohman, on the other hand, is an actress to watch.
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