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Adapted from the Oprah-certified novel by Janet Fitch (unread by me), White Oleander is an emotional story of mother and daughter suffering tormented lives after their idyllic relationship is shattered. The title stems from a flower (called the white oleander, logically enough) that is externally charming but internally poisonous. The white oleander of the story is an artist who - although fairly beautiful on the outside - is a poisonous and immoral individual who poisons lives. White Oleander can easily be classified as a chick flick as women are at the core of the movie. However it transcends its genre. The issues of love and control explored within are very real, and are treated quite shrewdly with real dramatic focus. The narrative is potent and usually engaging, Peter Kosminsky's sharp eye for direction is commendable, and the production values are faultless. Nevertheless, it's slightly banal at times and it lacks a necessary spark to move extract it out of the 'average' category.
Astrid Magnussen (Lohman) is an expressive, artistic teenager. She lives with her mother Ingrid (Pfeiffer) who shares Astrid's passion for art. Their life together is happy until Barry Kolker (a criminally wasted Billy Connolly) enters the picture. Ingrid falls in love with Barry, only to have her heart subsequently broken. In anger, Ingrid murders Barry using the poison of the white oleander flower (that's something the creators of Cluedo will need to use for an upcoming edition). As a consequence she is found guilty of murder and sent to prison...possibly for life.
Meanwhile, young Astrid is forced to endure an assortment of foster homes and foster parents. Over the course of multiple years she experiences love, religion, near-death occurrences, drugs, starvation, and she experiences what it's like to be loved. Throughout these years Astrid continues to communicate with her mother via letter or a visit. As Astrid drifts from foster home to foster home, the all-consuming hand of Ingrid reaches out to infiltrate and poison the lives of not only Astrid, but those who have adopted her.
Amongst the chaos and tragedy, the only solace Astrid can find is with the gentle and non-judgmental Paul (Fugit) whose similarly devastating background gives her a point of refuge.
To reveal the plot turns along Astrid's survival course would spoil far too much. Suffice to say, the film concludes with a guarded note of hope and an indication that there might - just might - even be the possibility of personal redemption for mother as well as daughter.
White Oleander is a coming-of-age tale that tracks young Astrid who is confused and often depressed, evidently because she has no knowledge of her biological father and appears scared to press her deceitful mother for information. The sole survival technique Astrid adheres to is to become a chameleon and adopt the characteristics of each family she's placed with. Thus she undergoes metamorphoses at the hands of every foster environment she experiences. She is forced to become white trailer trash when cared for by born-again ex-stripper Starr (Wright-Penn) before morphing into a Beverly Hills princess when beneath the roof of failing actress Claire Richards (Zellweger). In her final placing - under the tutelage of the ultra-capitalist Rena (Efremova) - Astrid discovers her gothic expression and assumes the jagged edged persona of youth on the edge. The mimicry, however, is only of limited depth - underneath each new outer shell is a young woman struggling to refine and retain her own identity under the hardest of pressures.
On a slight side note, serious questions should be asked of the local social services department. Among those trusted to care for Astrid include: a drunken, gun-toting, bible-thumping crack whore, and a moping, suicidal failed actress. Really, who checks up on these people?
White Oleander is apparently quite faithful in principal to the source material (various adjustments were made to the story, though). Janet Fitch was reportedly very happy with the novel-to-film translation. However, the thematic material seems diluted to a detrimental extent. The exclusion of stronger scenes in order to obtain a PG-13 rating (from the MPAA) affects the whole movie. Themes of suicide and murder are lightly touched upon, but it seems a whole lot is being held back. I feel that in order to do justice to the novel, the filmmakers should've pushed the boundaries and crafted an R-rated movie.
There are severe problems in the storytelling department. The film's timeline appears garbled, and the developments feel confusingly unearned. After Astrid is accepted into her first foster family, a few scenes worth of dialogue occur and (through dialogue) it's revealed she's been there for six months. In all honesty it feels like a week. We're granted little time to become acquainted with the second foster family. Initially promising and loving before things suddenly deteriorate and tragedy strikes. The developments are particularly poor in this case. Finally, Astrid's conversion to a gothic persona is random and sudden. The transformation appears to occur between two scenes. Astrid is shown as innocent, shy, and dressed regularly. In the next scene she's has developed into a smoker with black hair, black nails, black lipstick and skimpy clothes who doesn't seem to care about anything. The worst offender is Astrid's relationship Paul. At first hesitant to befriend him...then after a few scenes they are lovers? Where are the montages? The stirring scenes depicting the radical alterations? It's too jumbled and fast-moving, but at the same time too ponderous and plodding. It's a compelling story for sure, yet it isn't engaging enough. This is also due to the PG-13 rating - with an absence of stronger material, it unfortunately fails to engage every so often. It needed to be more compelling, and couldn't do this under the restrictions of a PG-13 classification.
Young Alison Lohman admirably holds her own while acting alongside a cavalcade of veteran stars. She's truly exceptional and emotional playing the forever-changing forms of Astrid. Lohman is destined for big-time Hollywood stardom - impossibly gorgeous, pleasing to watch, and utterly focused. Alongside Lohman is Michelle Pfieffer in her most expressive and beautifully delineated performance. Pfeiffer plays the character of Ingrid as a self-absorbed succubus; a steely beauty whose speeches of lone-wolf self sufficiency conceal an emotional susceptibility. She continually feeds Astrid a poisonous philosophy of misanthropy that almost kills her as assuredly as the white oleander milkshake that killed Ingrid's former lover. At times Ingrid appears to be a female rendering of Hannibal Lector; manipulating Astrid and her string of foster parents with cold precision and evil intent. Pfeiffer devours all her scenes with an utterly ferocious performance.
The performances of Pfeiffer and Lohman are bolstered by excellent support from Renée Zellweger, Robin Wright-Penn, Zvetlana Efremova and Patrick Fugit. Zellweger and Wright-Penn are particularly stirring as the troubled foster mothers, with an appealing Fugit as Paul who is the only character capable of sensing Astrid's true depth beneath a protective veneer. An almost invisible Billy Connolly also appears. Connolly is entirely forgettable and only delivers one line.
It may not be a perfect film, but White Oleander deserves credit for its ambitious aspirations and slick execution. The leaping story line - shaped by first-time director Peter Kosminsky - shows all the signs of rich detail compressed into a handful of evocative images and striking character traits. The frequently beautiful and bright images are also accompanied by a powerful, beautiful score. This is a pleasant diversion and it passes the time; however it appears to have suffered in part from the absence of stronger scenes in order to obtain a non-lenient PG-13.
White Oleander is fundamentally a medieval morality tale recast with Darwin philosophies concerning damaged modern woman. At the centre of this play stands Lohman - sweet and unpretentious, in search of a movie more worthy of her outstanding performance.
6.5/10
