White Oleander (film)

White Oleander is a 2002 American drama film directed by Peter Kosminsky. The film stars Alison Lohman in the central role of Astrid Magnussen and Michelle Pfeiffer as her manipulative mother, Ingrid, with Robin Wright, Noah Wyle, and Renée Zellweger in supporting roles. The screenplay was adapted from Janet Fitch's 1999 novel White Oleander, which was selected for Oprah's Book Club in May 1999.

Plot
Fifteen-year-old Astrid Magnussen, lives in Los Angeles with her free-spirited artist mother Ingrid. Too young to remember her father, she relies heavily upon her self-centered mother. Ingrid's relationship with a writer, Barry, which ends when she discovers he is cheating. Murdering him with white oleander poison, Ingrid is incarcerated, leaving Astrid under social services' control. Starr Thomas, a former stripper, recovering alcoholic and born-again Christian is Astrid's first foster mother. Initially interacting well, Astrid is baptised into her church. Ingrid finds out, setting Astrid against them. Starr, believing Astrid is sleeping with her live-in boyfriend, Ray, falls off the wagon. In a drunken rage, she argues with Ray, then shoots Astrid in the shoulder. Starr and Ray disappear; the children beg Astrid not to report her, so she plays along.

Astrid recovers in a hospital before being moved to McKinney Children's Center (aka "Mac"). After fighting with some girls, she befriends fellow artist, Paul Trout. Astrid is placed with former actress, Claire Richards, and her producer husband, Mark. Fragile but affectionate, Claire bonds closely with Astrid, who finally thrives. One day, Astrid discovers Ingrid has been corresponding with Claire and insists on meeting. At the prison visit, Ingrid’s jealously exploits Claire's low self-esteem and suspicions over Mark's fidelity, which worsens her depression. Later, a bad fight with Mark makes Claire consider sending Astrid back to MAC. She begs Claire not to; Claire appears to recant, but ultimately commits suicide later that night, devastating Astrid.

Astrid tells Ingrid of Claire's death, and that she was returned to MAC. Blaming Ingrid for the suicide, Astrid announces she will not visit again. Now back at MAC, Paul tells Astrid that as he turns 18 soon, he will move to New York. He asks her to join him, but she coldly refuses. Astrid passes up good foster parent candidates for Russian immigrant Rena Gruschenka, who uses kids as laborers for her flea market business. With Rena, she becomes more cold and matches her outward appearance with her inside demeanor. Her mother's attorney, Susan Vallares, already under Ingrid's spell, approaches Astrid, offering anything she wants in exchange for lying for her mother in court. Astrid refuses, but Rena tells her she's stupid to turn down money. Rena offers to make her an equal partner in her business, saying she has nowhere better to go but Astrid balks at the idea.

Astrid surprises Ingrid one final time in prison. Her appearance has changed dramatically. In control over her mother for once, Astrid demands answers about her past in exchange for testifying that Barry committed suicide. She hammers her mom with questions about Barry, her father, Claire, and a woman named Annie, whom Astrid vaguely recalls from her toddler years. Astrid seeks letters from Paul at a local comic book shop. He soon shows up in LA and they renew their relationship. He accompanies Astrid to her mother's trial as she awaits her time to testify. The courtroom empties early, and she goes to see what happened. Susan explains that Ingrid instructed her to not include Astrid's testimony. Ingrid and Astrid stare at one another as she is led away. Gutted, Astrid watches as her mother is taken back to prison. Paul asks what happened, and she says her mother finally let her go.

Two years later, a blonde-again Astrid lives in NYC with Paul, tending to her art: dioramas in suitcases depicting her life up to that point. As she passes them, she closes each stating she will never visit the horrors they contain again. Pausing at the final one depicting Ingrid, Astrid reflects that although flawed, she knows her mother loves her.

Cast

 * Alison Lohman as Astrid Magnussen
 * Robin Wright as Starr Thomas
 * Michelle Pfeiffer as Ingrid Magnussen
 * Renée Zellweger as Claire Richards
 * Billy Connolly as Barry Kolker
 * Svetlana Efremova as Rena Gruschenka
 * Patrick Fugit as Paul Trout
 * Cole Hauser as Ray
 * Noah Wyle as Mark Richards
 * Amy Aquino as Ms. Martinez
 * Liz Stauber as Carolee

Production
Principal photography for White Oleander began on April 23, 2001. Filming took place in Santa Clarita, California. Barbra Streisand turned down offers to direct the film and play Ingrid Magnussen. Alison Lohman wore a wig throughout filming because she had just finished playing a cancer patient in deleted scenes from the film Dragonfly (2002). The film clip Claire (Renée Zellweger) shows Astrid as an example of her acting career is of Zellweger's own early performance in The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1994).

Reception
White Oleander holds a rating of 70% on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 61 on Metacritic, indicating generally favorable reviews.

Stephen Holden, writing for The New York Times, called it a "rich, turbulent adaptation," and described the performances as "superbly acted from top to bottom." Comparing it to other films on the same theme – Anywhere but Here (1999), Tumbleweeds (1999), and The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) – Holden found White Oleander to be the only one to show "how children instinctively absorb their parents' attitudes and personalities." Andrew Sarris, writing for The Observer, named it as a runner-up on his list of the ten best English-language films of 2002. Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, was critical of the film, writing, "The performances are often touching and deserve a better screenplay."

The performances were widely acclaimed, particularly those of Pfeiffer and Lohman. The New York Times called Pfeiffer's role the "most complex screen performance of her career... at once irresistible and diabolical", while the Los Angeles Times singled out her "riveting, impeccable performance in what is literally and figuratively a killer role." Variety described it as a "daring, unsympathetic performance". Lohman's work was variously described as "the year's most auspicious screen acting début", a "tremendously weighty and extended role... [taken on] with great confidence" and an "awesome performance".

Accolades
Pfeiffer won the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress and the San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress, and received a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress. Zellweger was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.

Lohman was nominated for the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Newcomer.

Marc Donato won a Young Artist Award in the category of Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actor.

Home media
White Oleander was released on VHS and DVD by Warner Home Video on March 11, 2003 and includes special features such as the theatrical trailer, interviews with the cast and creators, behind the scenes footage, deleted scenes, an audio commentary with Peter Kosminsky, John Wells and Janet Fitch, and Cast and Crew film highlights.

Umbrella Entertainment re-released White Oleander on DVD in December 2011. The DVD is compatible with all region codes and includes all the special features from the original DVD release.

Music
Sheryl Crow's song "Safe and Sound", from her album 'C'mon, C'mon' was the theme song for the theatrical trailer, and also the end credits.