Release Date: October 11, 2002
Starring: Alison Lohman, Michelle Pfieffer, Robin Wright Penn, Renée Zellweger, Patrick Fugit, Noah Wyle
Directed by: Peter Kosminsky
Written by: Mary Agnes Donoghue
Distributed by: Warner Brothers
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (mature thematic elements concerning dysfunctional relationships, drug content, language, sexuality and violence)
White oleander is a rare, poisonous flower that is barely mentioned in this film, but it plays a very important role in causing the traumatic seperation of a mother and daughter. The plant is the weapon for a crime of passion, one that sends Ingrid Magnussen (Michelle Pfeiffer) to prison for the rest of her life, leaving her daughter Astrid (Alison Lohman, TV's "Pasadena") to move through a handful of foster homes that each conflict with her mother's strict and fiercely independent ideals. In this way, White Oleander very much resembles a Lifetime Channel movie or a soap opera, and only powerful performances and knowledgeable directing separate the film from those low-quality pieces of entertainment.
Based on the Oprah Winfrey-approved novel by Janet Fitch, the film consists of flashbacks to various periods in Astrid's life as grows from a girl into a young adult. She has a very close relationship with her mother but is forced to watch her arrest for the murder of an unfaithful boyfriend (Billy Connoly, An Everlasting Piece) and spend the rest of her teenage life traveling to a number of foster homes that are just as dysfunctional as her own. She first lives with an alcoholic, born-again Christian (Robin Wright Penn); then a benevolent but depressed and out-of-work actress (Renée Zellweger); and then a sleazy Russian flea market saleswoman (Rena Grushenka) after that. In between, Astrid lives at a boarding school where she meets one of the few likeable people in her life, a boy named Paul (Patrick Fugit, Almost Famous).
There is seldom a happy moment in White Oleander, but director Peter Kosminsky (who did the TV movie No Child of Mine) and screenwriter Mary Agnes Donoghue (Beaches) stick firmly to the point of Fitch's novel and bring it across effectively. The way young Astrid must deal with drastic life changes while trying to please her overbearing mother, whom she visits periodically in prison, is a very realistic if overwrought element of family drama that works here to some extent.
Not much else about the story can fully escape being described as dull. Director Kosminsky fleshes out the otherwise unremarkable script by extracting highly believable, even admirable performances from his actresses and actors, while periodically using an effective editing scheme.
The latter technique lays out the sequence of events well as it corresponds with both Astrid's and the audience's understanding of what's happening in her life. An explanation isn't given until Astrid knows of one herself, and that results in a much-needed feel of reality for the movie. But still, the majority of its quality rests in the acting.
The 23-year-old actress Alison Lohman carries the film as she portrays a teen with a difficult life that one might even assume the actress experienced herself. Her character tries to adapt to all of her new environments -- be it a dysfunctional trailer house or a lonely mansion on the beach -- and Lohman handles each situation almost flawlessly. Her growing bitterness and mixed love for her mother is genuine as well.
She also steals the show from her much more accomplished costars. Michelle Pfeifer brings out some of her best talent here, and she did perfectly well to create a commanding performance with such limited screen time. Renée Zellweger, too, has one of the most convincing roles in the film, but a strong sequence between her and Pfeiffer really only works because of each actress's gift for their profession, not because of the audience's engagement in the story.
Screenwriter Mary Agnes Donoghue is fortunate her adaptation was graced with top-notch acting and suitable direction, or else it would have fit nicely in the video library at the Lifetime Channel. It's the second-rate story that detracts from everything else, and because of this White Oleander can't fully be described as a solid motion picture.
all contents © 2002 Andy Zientek