Rating: 
Summary: A beautiful, haunting movie.
Review: Pleasantly suprised by this flick. Don't believe those who put it down. It pulled me in for 2 hours & wouldn't let me go. Beautifully filmed in parts... exquisite opening sequence leading from Astrids bedroom to an LA rooftop at night.Michelle Pfeiffer is perfect, as is the rest of the cast. My only complaint is the underdevelopment of the story leading to Barry's murder. Ironically, the director notes in the film's commentary that an additional 40 minutes of material had been filmed related to the Ingrid/Barry relationship, but Warner Bros pushed to trim it. UGH! Sometimes studio execs don't know best.... Too bad they couldn't have included these scenes on the DVD. Anyway, a beautiful movie, check it out.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie! Michelle Pfeiffe SO deserved an Oscar!!!
Review: First off, imagine how hard it would be to make an adaption from such a great and loved novel. Well, it was pulled off and with memorizing preformances, to a haunting music score, White Oleander was one off 2002's best films! It is so devastating to see that the Acadamey Awards did not regonize this film. Alison Lohman was Pitch Perfect, Robin Wright Penn brought a character to the screen that was increadible, Renee Zellweager was amazing capturing Clare and Michelle Phiffer- I'm lost for words. Her prformance as Astrid's mother was mind blowing. Powerful, stunning, heart wrenching- mixing evil emotions with good is something only a true actress could pull off. Micheele Phiffer may have not gotton a nomination but to me and other viwers she will be seen as this year's best supporting actress. If you want to know what the movie is about go watch it- I just want every one to know what and amaziong movie this is and that Michelle Pfeiffer so deserved an Oscar.
Rating:
Summary: Girl, Interrupted
Review: This is a fascinating and haunting film that takes us on a turbulant journey of Astrid's uprooted life. You see what Astrid goes through as she is constantly being moved around from home to home and you begin to have alot of empathy for her character. I felt so bad for her and what she had to go through because of her mother. I did not expect the character of Astrid's mother (Michelle Phiffer), to be so ...vendictive. I was shocked at some of the scenes when Astrid would visit her mother in prison. Michelle Phiffer did an outstanding job, oscar worthy. Allison Lohman also did an incredible job. Her understated style of acting spoke a thousand words. I also liked the way "White Oleander" was filmed. It complimented the mood in which this film was generating and the music only added to the whole effect. Great story, great acting, and great directing, you can't ask for more in a film!
Rating:
Summary: This is the greatest movie ever!!
Review: This is the greatest movie ever I bought it the day it came out and have watched it 5 times and have cried every time.. I don't know I feel a connection to this movie like no other movie I have ever seen.. I recommend this movie to everyone to see at least once in you life but please go out no run out and buy this it is the best movie I have ever seen!!
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly Well Done!!
Review: The acting performances by the two main principles were excellent. Pfifer was superb in her egocentric self centered role which seriously afected her relationship with her daughter.
It was sad to see her daughter bouncing from foster home to foster home. Unfortunately, the film illustrates the reality of our child welfare system. The foster homes are licenced after meeting certain requirements such as fire safty, fenced pool and size of the home. The foster parents receive no training on parenting skills or dealing with disturbed children.
At times, some families are dysfunctional, neglectful, uncaring and frequently sexualy or physicaly abuse the children. Having worked as a child welfare worker in two sates, it was rather easy for me to understand what neglected/abandoned children end up in dysfunctional homes. Child welfare laws must be revised and changed to protect our innocent!! Great movie! A must see!!
Rating:
Summary: When the movie is better than the book........
Review: Reviewing the book WHITE OLEANDER in 1999 I felt it was just another rehash of victimization of teens and adults by society. Now the movie is out on DVD and in the home, without the disruption of an audience to distract, WHITE OLEANDER becomes a more sensitive exploration of the need of love between parent and child, or between each of us. Part of the credibility of the film I found lacking in the book was the ability of the director and the actors to take the characters beyond caricature and targeted violence - whether that violence takes the form of mental or physical cruelty or is symptomatic of a social system that is in need of repair. Alison Lohman gives a bravura performance as Astrid, the newly formed foster child after her mother's imprisonment for murder. Her mother, likewise, is fully fleshed out by Michelle Pfeiffer. The foster parents may lack in social and parenting skills but the actors portraying them (Robin Wright Penn, Renee Zellweger, Zvetlana Efrenova, et al) find the core of credibility in each and are all supporting actors of the highest order. So here is an instance, at least for this reviewer, where the book was less than mediocre but provided a film that is memorable. Very much worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: Very censored compared to the book!
Review: I know the filmmakers didn't want to make a very explicit movie because if they had kept everything from the book in the movie it would have been a really hard R. In the book there are graphic sexual encounters. But in the movie they are only insinuated which is very good for teen audiences. But onto the other stuff: The movie is very true to the book and I am happy with that. The movie is different in some ways but not very differet. Top notch flick! Be prepared to be depressed!
Rating:
Summary: Movie compliments the book well..
Review: Although this movie was a watered down version of the book (because of its PG-13 rating), it still captured the story of Ingrid beautifully. I especially liked Renee's performance as Claire. The ending was fantastic (but I won't give it away!!). Definately a must-see.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful display of a woman's soul and often dark secrets
Review: There's something hauntingly beautiful about White Oleander . From the way the opening tittles appear ( white letters on black bacground - then an image of a semi-naked boy sleeping on the wooden floor of an empty appartment - white letters on a black backgroung again - then the camera enters another room of the appartment where four boxes of personal art are placed ) to the innocence of Lohman's face , there's something dreamy and dark about this movie drama , something that makes it stand out . The film tells the story of Astrid , a sensitive child of an artist who faces some harsh and difficult situations after the arrest and conviction of her mother for her boyfriend's murder . The first half of the movie is gripping and intense . The events taking place are so unexpected and powerful , you can't help but being affected . Beautiful colours fill the screen while abstract pianno soundtrack pieces help the director build an ethereal atmosphere . After it's halway mark White Oleander is not as compelling as it's first part was . Yet overall Kosminsky's debut offering remains a beautiful display of a woman's soul and often dark secrets . He succeeds in giving life to a complicated mother-daughter relationship story which takes talent and sensitivity to tell .
Rating:
Summary: Teen Victim of Mother's Dominance Triumphs
Review: This film is a study of several people, all of whom are emersed in art -- their work, life ambitions, love and any other focus is art. A middle aged single mother sees her 15 year old daughter as her life-project, her own "master piece". A string of selfish acts culminate in the murder of a boyfriend who had given the mother a rather nasty way of breaking-up. The daughter, now without parents, is shuffled through several foster-homes, all of them total disasters. The social worker who keeps facilitating these horrible arrangements is shown as [a person] rather than someone who genuinely cares about orphans.
Some of the characters visiting the young girl's life are sincere, in many ways "broken" spirits who have been abused by society and/or crushed by the burden of living. The ending is satisfying, even if not surprising. To those who say "never in a million years" I would say that the story is not entirely unlikely. The horrors of our foster systems (like familiar prison dramas) are not at all exaggerated. Many may even call the scenes shown here "mild" compared to what really goes on. The story is a provokative one. My only problem is the fact that I could not empathise with the character of the mother (played by Michelle Pfeiffer). To see a woman do as she pleases with no regard whatsoever for her child (where was the 15 year old to go after mom goes to prison? - Did mom think there would be no consequence to murder?). Crimes of "passion" or in the name of "art" are still crimes. To see the young daughter mature and evidently "triumph" despite all she endured, is the viewer's only consolation. This is an excellent film, yet one I only care to see once.
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