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Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0085392452019
Format: NTSC
Region Code: 1
Sales Rank: 120644
Theatrical Release Date: October 11, 2002
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Fine performances and sensitive direction keep White Oleander from being a routine tearjerker. Adapted from Janet Fitch's bestseller (an Oprah's Book Club selection), this hard-edged drama boasts a reputable cast, but 23-year-old newcomer Alison Lohman steals the film from her A-list costars. As a troubled teen whose controlling mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) has been jailed for murder, Lohman is the film's heart and soul, bouncing between foster homes and rushing toward independence in a world of disappointing adults. After surviving episodic stints with a trashy born-again Christian (Robin Wright Penn), a suicidal housewife (Renée Zellweger), and a Russian immigrant (Zvetlana Efremova), she finds comfort with another outcast (Patrick Fugit), leaving behind the mothers who failed her. Making his feature directorial debut, British stage and TV veteran Peter Kosminsky creates a showcase for formidable actresses, each given moments to shine. White Oleander lacks the emotional depth of Fitch's novel, but it speaks volumes about the delicate balance of freedom and responsibility. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Excellent
It is likely that if you enjoyed "Speak" (2004) you will connect with "White Oleander" (2002). Both are based on novels about a traumatized teenage girl who overcomes mega-adversity; heroines who get stronger as the story progresses. Both are told entirely from the point-of- view of this central character; Melinda (Kristen Stewart) in "Speak" and Astrid (Alison Lohman) in "White Oleander". Both actresses are physically small and the directors in each film effectively utilize this to reinforce their ... Read More
Rating: - Almost as Good as the Book
I watched this movie and was impressed...It is just about as good as the book...but I was not bored with watching a movie made about the book like some. This movie was interesting in that the characters were well picked for the roles they played and so after watching this movie and thinking about it for about a week...well I had to watch it again. It is always sad to realize that life out there is not always a bed of roses. One has to mull the fact that within the system where children are placed in ... Read More
Rating: - Quick ship - Perfect Condition
I loved this movie. Michelle Pfeiffer's character was so creepy, and she WAS her character. Especially her eyes - from the long stares to the furtive glances. Even her supposed redemption was negated by her eyes - glance, stare, meaning behind the act. The story was heart-rending, and the movie is NOT for those looking for action and Rambo. This is just a well-acted and directed movie with a very real story and happy ending.
Rating: - Mothers seen as protective vultures
A girl born without a father and raised by a mother who is a real Machiavelli of love, has one day to face her own life through hell when her mother is sent to prison for the murder of her boy friend because he had to let her go on their last meeting because he had a date, which she of course could not accept. The girl knows all the horror there can be in the kind of institution she finds herself sent to or in the foster homes she ends up in. She is nothing but a substitute for something the foster ... Read More
Rating: - Amazing performances!!
Listen guys...do not get put off by the fact this movie appears on the surface to be a 'chick flick'. Yes, the storyline is all about 'mothers and daughters' and yes, much of the dynamics of those kinds of relationships will escape even the more sensitive of my gender, but wait. This movie also contains three of the most outstanding performances by three talented women I have ever witnessed. Relative newcomer Alison Lohman does her 'trademark thang' (in case you haven't seen Matchstick Men or Where ... Read More
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