White Oleander (2002)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Peter Kosminsky

Writers (WGA):

Janet Fitch (novel)
Mary Agnes Donoghue (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 October 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Where does a mother end and a daughter begin?

Plot:

A teenager journeys through a series of foster homes after her mother goes to prison for committing a crime of passion.

Plot Keywords:

Foster Home | Prison | California | Poison | Letter

Awards:

3 wins & 4 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Nov. 12

11:30 AM

MAX

Cast

Amy Aquino	...	Miss Martinez
John Billingsley	...	Paramedic
Elisa Bocanegra	...	Girl in Fight
Darlene Bohorquez	...	Prisoner
Solomon Burke Jr.	...	Guard
Scott Allan Campbell	...	Bill Greenway
Sam Catlin	...	Teacher
Debra Christofferson	...	Marlena
Billy Connolly	...	Barry Kolker
Marc Donato	...	Davey Thomas
Svetlana Efremova	...	Rena Gruschenka
Patrick Fugit	...	Paul Trout
Vernon Haas	...	Guard
Sean Happy	...	Dirt Bike Boyfriend
Cole Hauser	...	Ray

Also Known As:

Weißer Oleander (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements concerning dysfunctional relationships, drug content, language, sexuality and violence.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:16 | Canada:PG | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:12A (original rating) | UK:12 (video rating) (2004) | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Airport Courthouse - 11701 S. La Cienega Blvd., Ladera Heights, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Gaylord Films

Trivia:

Alison Lohman wore a wig/was bald throughout the whole film, because she had just previously filmed a role as a cancer patient.

Goofs:

Continuity: Astrid is blonde throughout most of the movie (until she turns Goth and dyes her hair while fostered to the Russian woman), but in some of the scenes at McKinney Hall after Claire's suicide, before and after visiting her mother in prison, her eyebrows are dark and dark roots are showing in her hair.

Quotes:

Rena: You're a stupid girl, you walk away from money to punish mother?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Game K N B: (2006-11-29)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Why'd They Make Me Bang

Alison Lohman stands out in subtle coming-of-age drama

Based on the same-titled novel by Janet Fitch, White Oleander tells the story of a teenage girl (Alison Lohman) struggling to survive in foster homes while her free-spirited mother (Michelle Phieffer) is in prison for having murdered her lover with the poisonous flower 'White Oleander'. It is a complex story of the relationship between a powerless girl and a loveless mother that, in spite of its cheesy sounding premise, manages to avoid all clichéd Hallmark moments and project quite a lot of heart in doing so.

White Oleander sees Alison Lohman in a superbly bruised and fragile performance as Astrid Magnussen and we follow her through her struggles, both to bond with her mother and to survive in foster cares. All developments in her life feel natural and genuine, for example seeking the affirmation of an older man (Cole Hauser) in one of her foster homes, and putting herself into a strangely Lolita-like situation -- and this part is viciously well-handled and more effective than any other teen girl/older man jail bait situation I have ever seen.

The film stars a wide variety of blondes, Michelle Phieffer, Alison Lohman, Robin Wright Penn and Renée Zellweger in different parts and they all feel appropriate. Phieiffer is proud, cold and heartless and this is juxtapositioned with Lohman's mildness and loving ways. White Oleander is a film that is indeed very sad, but does not purposely pull at the human race's collective heartstrings in every emotional scene and set-up. This way, in spite of its content, it never becomes sappy. It's not a film I would watch again however, and I would never recommend it to male viewers because it is very chick-oriented.

7/10