Rating: 
Summary: Great film let down by poor ending
Review: Nearly all the reviews agree - a disappointing ending to a fine film. Astrid is a 15 year old who at first, appears to have a good relationship with her mother (Michelle Pfeiffer), but when the mother is imprisoned for killing her lover, the true nature of mother/daughter relationship is revealed. Astrid moves from foster home to foster home and this is very heartbreaking to watch, but is rather one-sided. In each case, it seems that the foster parents have problems, which in reality is fairly rare. Excellent performances from the actress who plays Astrid, and a surprisingly good one from Renee Zellweger on a more dramatic level. Nice to see Renee playing a more serious role for a change. Michelle Pfeiffer is excellent as the mother (although Michelle seems to be the same in all her films - definitely not a character actor), and a stellar performance from Robin Wright as the trailer trash foster mother. The film flows very well, but disappoints greatly at the end. Unfortunately, another happy Hollwood ending. Such a pity, White Oleander really did have the makings of a fine piece of film!
Rating: 
Summary: Good and hard
Review: This was an intense, powerful extraordinarily well done movie that is so good it hurts. Think Sophie's choice. It's about a teen-aged daughter whose mother gets herself sent to jail for a long time, leaving the daughter to drift from foster home to foster home. We see a sweet kid exposed to situations that turn her hard, angry, jaded. And while we watch this we know that this happens every day, every minute to kids all over the world, millions of them. Michelle Pfeifer is amazing as the self absorbed, possibly borderline possibly sociopathic mother who tries to manipulate her daughter remotely, from jail. Alison Lohman plays the teenage daughter. She does a great job and shows terrific promise as a versatile actor. With her next film, Matchstick men, directed by Ridley Scott, she's off to a great start, with a good half dozen films already under her belt. This is a great movie, but don't expect to walk out feeling uplifted. Try feeling like you've been hit in the stomach. Still, it is worth seeing, really worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing. One Of The Best I've Seen
Review: This movie is rarly funny, it doesn't need to be. It's serious, sad, dramatic, and full of action. Tons of things happen to this girl, who's not you're stero-type blonde, and the movie never has a moment when you think it's getting boring. The cover the DVD shows the four blondes and makes it look like a "chick flick" definitly not so. Not the fell-good movie of the year, but a great one that leaves you speechless.
Rating: 
Summary: ...
Review: It's a terrible representation of foster care, but a great representation of a child trying to shake away from the grips of an overbearing mother. Astrid, the main character, is desprately trying to find herself, but having difficulty as her mother, who has been sent to jail for murder, tries to control her from behind bars. Astrid's mother is a sick and manipulative woman. That's one thing you know right off the bat. She claims to be an artist, but she knows nothing about true beauty. She claims to be protecting her daughter, but she really doesn't care either way. She claims to want her daughter to think for herself, but in reality, she tries desperitly to do all her thinking for her. This movie has very interesting characters. Watching Astrid go from a fairly naive girl to a hardened woman is disturbing, but understandable. All in all, it's a good movie.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful Movie About Relationships and Emotions.
Review: This was one incredible movie. Shown from the eyes of Astrid, it takes you on a journey of heartache and lessons. Alison Lohman does a great job acting the part of the lonely lost teenage girl. She starts the journey with her mother, comfortably dangerous Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer) in a comfortable home in LA. This is all upset when Ingrid poisons her boyfriend and ends up in jail. Astrid is then sent through a series of foster homes where she learns many tough lessons and is stronger after each encounter. Periodically she visits her mother in prison and grows more and more distant from her as Ingrid tries to keep control over Astrid. Pfeiffer plays Neurotic incredibly well. Zellweger I believe does one of the best acting jobs in the whole movie as a Co-Dependent, bad acting, foster mother. This movie will take you through a rollercoaster of emotions. It deserves to be seen by everyone. Great, powerful, dramatic movie!!
Rating:
Summary: good adaptation of a great novel
Review: we all know that the book-to-movie process is indeed a difficult one and most film makers worry too often they'll be criticized severely for not following the author's intended themes. i can thankfully say that the makers of white oleander did try very hard to follow the themes and patterns of janet fitch's remarkable novel and i wasn't disappointed. in fact, i hope michelle pfieffer recieves atleast an oscar nomination for her performance here. white oleander is the story of a woman (played by michelle pfieffer) so heated up with jealousy that she plots to kill her love interest. after the love interest turns up dead, astrid is picked up by children's services and we follow her from foster home to home throughout the course of the film. from struggles with spiritual issues to blossoming womanhood, we see our protagonist's innocence shed like a snake's skin and we watch her magnificent change. through all the abuse and hardship she finds along her path, she also manages to encounter love and learn some of the hard lessons of life. i was nearly blown away by the performances of alison lohman and michelle pfieffer. i also believe robin wright-penn and renee zellweger were both effective in their roles although we don't get to spend too much time with them. however, i still think they could've included more story from the book as i don't think it's possible to squeeze a 445 pg novel into a 1hr. and 49 min. motion picture. aside from that, white oleander is probably one of the few films made these days which remains quite faithful to the book. if you haven't read the book yet, pick up a copy soon. if you have read the book and loved it, see the film.
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.
Rating:
Summary: Bad movie!
Review: This movie was very superficial, we don't feel it real, it go to one situation to another without exploring it enough.
Rating:
Summary: All inside
Review: I always hated the term chick flicks, just like I hated the macho label given to action movies, there are simply good and bad movies, either gender is capable of loving good movies no matter what the genre. My point in relation to this movie, is that guys are perfectly capable of liking this movie whether or not it contains only women. I mean men are fascinated with women are we not. This movie is not an amazing movie, far too melodramatic and precious for that. But it is delightful in parts, Alison Lohman delivers a pretty staggering performance, showing the change of her character but also the steadiness that she exudes. Its a pleasure watching her navigate the movie. Thomas Newman, as always delivers a beautiful score, adding tremendous weight to all scenes where his work is present. This movie was different from what I expected in its visual style, its handheld but well-composed shots brought an almost theatrical style to the movie. But the sweeping events, like shootings and suicides add an unneeded overdramatic element to the beautiful underplayed character scenes, which undermine the dramatic tension of the plot. It bothered me, but overall, I wasn't awed by this movie, I just remember it, but that might even be better.
Rating:
Summary: Kosminsky the real star
Review: With a star studded cast like this, and Pfeiffer's best role for years, how come this film didn't get any Oscar nominations? Alison, as Astrid, is just superb. I found myself wondering at the start how they could get this young girl to act so well, so naturally tweenage, and then was even more amazed as she grew up in the film. I checked it out later: she's not a girl, she's a woman, not even a teenager anymore. Brilliant acting. Give that woman a best actress oscar! And Michelle: wooooo, very scary. Those beautiful eyes go all really nasty and icy cold. Don't mess with me, Buster! Amazing transformation and total nutcase: one best supporting Oscar for you Ms Pf. But really, isn't Kosminsky, the Director, the real star here? Did you notice anything around you during the film? Nope, me neither. Totally lost in the film. Take a bow Peter, you get a Best Director Oscar from me !
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