CAUTION: P0SSIBLE SPOILERS
WHITE OLEANDER is just the kind of movie I really enjoy because it's about humanity and realistically presented, not about fake Brady Bunch stuff.
Indeed, Alison Lohman stole the film from such vets as Michelle Pfieffer, Robin Wright and Renee Zellweger, as well as the fine supporting cast of Amy Aquino, Patrick Fugit, Cole Hauser and Noah Wyle. I first thought this was Kirsten Dunst, but I soon realized it wasn't, for though Lohman has Dunst's overall facial shape, she has deep set dark brown eyes that really speak volumes.
Lohman plays Astrid Magnussen, daughter of Los Angeles artist Ingrid Magnussen (played by Pfieffer). It's not apparent yet at the beginning, but the mother/daughter relationship is strained at best, and Ingrid is clearly the one who has the last say in everything. She wants to control everything, including Astrid.
When Ingrid murders her boyfriend Barry because he was cheating on her, Astrid is immediately remanded to the custody of CPS and placed in the foster care of a woman named Starr Thomas (Wright). It's apparent right away that THIS household is shaky, and that Astrid's life, already torn and uprooted, is about to get even more difficult. Starr is an ex-stripper, ex-cocaine addict who was been "born again" so naturally she is a bible-thumping holy roller, although she still loves to dress pretty racy and still smokes and has sex out of wedlock with her boyfriend Ray (Hauser). Her other foster daughter, Carolee, has nothing more than bitter contempt for Starr, and calls her a hippocrite more often than not. I thought Starr was fake the minute she came on screen, and my hat is off to Wright for such a believable portrayal of just another misguided holy roller who doesn't realize what true Christianity is supposed to be like. Ingrid tells Astrid that the whole "born again and baptized" thing is crap, and Astrid, knowing nothing else, harkens to her mother again.
Astrid develops a crush on her foster "father" Ray, and although he knows it's wrong, he has feelings for her too. He has always been very kind to her and it all seemed genuine. I really believed he didn't plan to do what he did. But it happened, and in one horrible instant, a gun is fired and the entire household is shattered.
Astrid finds herself in a facility for displaced foster kids, and gets beaten up by a bunch of chola girls. She uses a knife to chop off her lovely blonde hair and warns one of the girls that she will slit all their throats if they mess with her again. Astrid has had one too many assaults already, and you see the inner change happening. The one person who shows her any kindness at all is Paul (Fugit), who like Astrid and Ingrid, is an artist, although Ingrid immediately shoots holes in Astrid's faith and admiration for him. It is at this point where you begin to see Ingrid as one of the cruelest mothers since Mommie Dearest. Only she uses words, not concrete weapons.
The next foster family to take in the girl is the Richards, actors who reside on the ocean and whose lives seem utterly perfect. Claire (Zellweger)is not as successful as her husband Mark (Wyle) but she seems very glad to stay home and she seems to have needed Astrid for a companion. All too soon, however, Mark appears to be a very cold, distant, annoyed hubby when he's home. His work on a TV show keeps him gone most of the time, but when he reunites with his wife, he doesn't seem at all pleased. When you look deeper, you see that Claire is extremely depressed over Mark being gone all the time, and that her acting career is pretty much a joke of B horror movies.
When Ingrid summons Astrid and Claire for a visit, she wreaks more havok than ever by making Claire feel smaller than she already feels and by trying to shake Astrid's faith again. It really seems as though Ingrid wants Astrid as miserable as she is, because she's angry that she's been imprisoned.
You see a flashback of Ingrid slashing somebody's clothing with a knife and you understand just how cold and cruel Ingrid really is. She is a snake, a reptile, a bloodsucker. Kudos to Michelle Pfieffer. I think this is the best work she's done in a long time.
The inevitable happens, and Astrid is once again in the displaced minors' facility. For her next home, she selects a Russian woman who takes in homeless/parentless girls and puts them to work selling clothing at flea markets. She's not nearly as lovable as Claire was but not nearly phony as Starr was, so she's okay in Astrid's eyes.
The final showdown is a great scene, where Astrid shocks Ingrid with her heavy, slutty makeup, tattoos, dyed hair, cigarettes and completely new personality. Astrid has transformed from a sweet, frightened, innocent child to a tough, jaded, sick of mother's BS woman and she gives Ingrid the ultimatum we've thought she deserved from day one: tell me the truth about everything you've done to hurt me, or rot in here.
And Ingrid, for the first time in her selfish, cruel hateful existence, submits to Astrid's wishes.
I haven't read the book yet, but I'm really planning to soon. As for the movie, I loved it.
WHITE OLEANDER is just the kind of movie I really enjoy because it's about humanity and realistically presented, not about fake Brady Bunch stuff.
Indeed, Alison Lohman stole the film from such vets as Michelle Pfieffer, Robin Wright and Renee Zellweger, as well as the fine supporting cast of Amy Aquino, Patrick Fugit, Cole Hauser and Noah Wyle. I first thought this was Kirsten Dunst, but I soon realized it wasn't, for though Lohman has Dunst's overall facial shape, she has deep set dark brown eyes that really speak volumes.
Lohman plays Astrid Magnussen, daughter of Los Angeles artist Ingrid Magnussen (played by Pfieffer). It's not apparent yet at the beginning, but the mother/daughter relationship is strained at best, and Ingrid is clearly the one who has the last say in everything. She wants to control everything, including Astrid.
When Ingrid murders her boyfriend Barry because he was cheating on her, Astrid is immediately remanded to the custody of CPS and placed in the foster care of a woman named Starr Thomas (Wright). It's apparent right away that THIS household is shaky, and that Astrid's life, already torn and uprooted, is about to get even more difficult. Starr is an ex-stripper, ex-cocaine addict who was been "born again" so naturally she is a bible-thumping holy roller, although she still loves to dress pretty racy and still smokes and has sex out of wedlock with her boyfriend Ray (Hauser). Her other foster daughter, Carolee, has nothing more than bitter contempt for Starr, and calls her a hippocrite more often than not. I thought Starr was fake the minute she came on screen, and my hat is off to Wright for such a believable portrayal of just another misguided holy roller who doesn't realize what true Christianity is supposed to be like. Ingrid tells Astrid that the whole "born again and baptized" thing is crap, and Astrid, knowing nothing else, harkens to her mother again.
Astrid develops a crush on her foster "father" Ray, and although he knows it's wrong, he has feelings for her too. He has always been very kind to her and it all seemed genuine. I really believed he didn't plan to do what he did. But it happened, and in one horrible instant, a gun is fired and the entire household is shattered.
Astrid finds herself in a facility for displaced foster kids, and gets beaten up by a bunch of chola girls. She uses a knife to chop off her lovely blonde hair and warns one of the girls that she will slit all their throats if they mess with her again. Astrid has had one too many assaults already, and you see the inner change happening. The one person who shows her any kindness at all is Paul (Fugit), who like Astrid and Ingrid, is an artist, although Ingrid immediately shoots holes in Astrid's faith and admiration for him. It is at this point where you begin to see Ingrid as one of the cruelest mothers since Mommie Dearest. Only she uses words, not concrete weapons.
The next foster family to take in the girl is the Richards, actors who reside on the ocean and whose lives seem utterly perfect. Claire (Zellweger)is not as successful as her husband Mark (Wyle) but she seems very glad to stay home and she seems to have needed Astrid for a companion. All too soon, however, Mark appears to be a very cold, distant, annoyed hubby when he's home. His work on a TV show keeps him gone most of the time, but when he reunites with his wife, he doesn't seem at all pleased. When you look deeper, you see that Claire is extremely depressed over Mark being gone all the time, and that her acting career is pretty much a joke of B horror movies.
When Ingrid summons Astrid and Claire for a visit, she wreaks more havok than ever by making Claire feel smaller than she already feels and by trying to shake Astrid's faith again. It really seems as though Ingrid wants Astrid as miserable as she is, because she's angry that she's been imprisoned.
You see a flashback of Ingrid slashing somebody's clothing with a knife and you understand just how cold and cruel Ingrid really is. She is a snake, a reptile, a bloodsucker. Kudos to Michelle Pfieffer. I think this is the best work she's done in a long time.
The inevitable happens, and Astrid is once again in the displaced minors' facility. For her next home, she selects a Russian woman who takes in homeless/parentless girls and puts them to work selling clothing at flea markets. She's not nearly as lovable as Claire was but not nearly phony as Starr was, so she's okay in Astrid's eyes.
The final showdown is a great scene, where Astrid shocks Ingrid with her heavy, slutty makeup, tattoos, dyed hair, cigarettes and completely new personality. Astrid has transformed from a sweet, frightened, innocent child to a tough, jaded, sick of mother's BS woman and she gives Ingrid the ultimatum we've thought she deserved from day one: tell me the truth about everything you've done to hurt me, or rot in here.
And Ingrid, for the first time in her selfish, cruel hateful existence, submits to Astrid's wishes.
I haven't read the book yet, but I'm really planning to soon. As for the movie, I loved it.