White Oleander | | Cast : | Alison Lohman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robin Wright Penn, Renée Zellweger | | Director : | Peter Kosminsky | | Studio : | Warner Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | October 11, 2002 | | DVD Released Date : | September 14, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 12, 2005 | | Summary | white Oleander | Content
 | excellent movie. Sat thur it twice..A wonderful story of a Mother and daughter strain relationship. Zellweger.plays a excellent role struggling to get her independence from her Mother. Great acting. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 10, 2005 | | Summary | White Noise | Content
| If you are a guy, never watch this movie. NEVER! If you are a guy who has seen it, and enjoyed it even remotely, you need to do some soul searching. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 09, 2005 | | Summary | Film Noir Worthy | Content
| Perhaps it's because I'm a huge fan of film noir where women got to play just unrepentantly 'wicked' fun characters but I loved Michelle Pfeiffer's character in this movie. She was devastating. I couldn't wait to see what she would be up to next. I think Alison Lohman's character (Astrid) was so comfortable with the russian woman at the end because that was the only person you felt could have gone toe to toe with Ingrid. Their philosophies of life were very similar.
I'm not identifying the characters much or giving out plot points here because it's been done in so many other reviews (too many plot points if you ask me).
Robin Wright Penn and Renee Zellwegger were both revelations here and every other character was also played pitch perfect. Alison Lohman of course was outstanding. I'd never seen her before and now I will seek her out. Ms. Pfeiffer once again validated everything I've ever loved about her. You can just picture Barbara Stanwyck playing the role of Ingrid and in case you don't know, that's a huge compliment. Where the heck is that Oscar fer cryin out loud?
Apparently it's a good thing I never read the book. This movie should stand on its own merits. I just finished watching it, I'm recommending it to all my friends and I believe I'll go watch it a second time right now.
Hmmmm ..... bet you can't say 'Film Noir Worthy' three times fast. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 27, 2005 | | Summary | wraps up too neatly | Content
| I am still not sure what to make of this film. At first I did not buy it-the story did not ring true. Michelle Pfeiffer as Ingrid, at first glance, seems much too pristine and clean for her role here as a completely selfish "artist" who murders a lover... and in the end, her hatred for men exceeds her love for her young daughter (played by Alison Lohman in a star-turning role). Lohman as Astrid conveys the frustrations and disappointments of her life as she falls into state custody and later into the care of different foster families (all alarmingly inappropriate). First Astrid ends up with a sleazy born-again Christian (a dead-on performance from the multitalented Robin Wright Penn), who accuses Astrid of trying to seduce her boyfriend, when in fact it is the other way around); then Astrid ends up with a mentally unstable/suicidal housewife (Renee Zellweger), and later with a Russian immigrant. Certainly Astrid has seen enough trauma and has become an adult much too soon thanks to her mother, let alone from having to deal with the insanity these foster homes heap on her. Amazingly she keeps it together, emerging as the only seemingly balanced individual in the story. Lohman pulls off her role as the focal point of the film brilliantly, while the supporting roles are impressively executed. Overall the exceptional performances, though, cannot hide the fact that everything in the story seems to wrap up just a bit too neatly. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 30, 2004 | | Summary | A movie that teaches you a lesson & stimulates your brain | Content
| The cruelest part of the movie, for me, was when Ingrid Magnussen (Michelle Pfeiffer) flings her voodoo magic at Claire Richards (Renee Zellweger), her daughter's 2nd foster mother, to get her to commit sucide so that her daughter, Astrid (Alison Lohman), will be unhappy again ... which she constantly wants. At that point, you realize that she's only happy for her Astrid when her life is getting flushed down the toilet. Ingrid's life, you see, wasn't that great, and she makes herself feel better by always making sure that her daughter's life is utter & complete hell. That way, she (in her mind) will always feel good about herself. It's how she got her kicks. In any case, her daughter (at that point) decided to finally cut her mother out of her life, which, towards the end of the movie, is key in Astrid finally getting to find the hapiness she's been looking for all her life.
Also, Ingrid is shown to be somebody who thinks that the world revolves around her, and that doing anything to keep this delusional reality she has is justified, even if it includes murder. And, no matter what, she never appoligizes, or feels sorry for what she does. In the end, there is no doubt in your mind that she deserves to rot in jail & never get out. This movie is a great piece of work. One that, I think, will stand up for years to come. |
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