White Oleander (film)
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''White Oleander'' is a 2002 American
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Peter Kosminsky Peter Kosminsky (born 21 April 1956) is a British writer, director and producer. He has directed Hollywood movies such as ''White Oleander'' and television films like ''Warriors'', ''The Government Inspector (television drama), The Government In ...
. The film stars
Alison Lohman Alison Marion Lohman (born September 18, 1979) is an American former actress. Born in Palm Springs, California, she began her career with small roles in short and independent films. Lohman headlined the drama film '' White Oleander'' (2002), wh ...
in the central role of Astrid Magnussen and
Michelle Pfeiffer Michelle Marie Pfeiffer (; born April 29, 1958) is an American actress and producer. A prolific performer whose List of Michelle Pfeiffer performances, screen work spans over four decades, she became one of Hollywood's most bankable stars and ...
as her manipulative mother, Ingrid, with
Robin Wright Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American actress. She has won a Golden Globe Award and a Satellite Award, and has received eleven Emmy Award nominations for her work in television. Wright first gained attention for her role in t ...
,
Noah Wyle Noah Strausser Speer Wyle (; born June 4, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as John Carter (ER), John Carter in the television series ''ER (TV series), ER'' (1994–2009), which earned him nominations for three Golden Glo ...
and
Renée Zellweger Renée Kathleen Zellweger (; born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards, she was one of the world's highest-paid ...
in supporting roles. The screenplay was adapted from
Janet Fitch Janet Fitch (born November 9, 1955) is an American author. She wrote the novel ''White Oleander'', which became a film in 2002. She is a graduate of Reed College. Fitch was born in Los Angeles, a third-generation native, and grew up in a fam ...
's 1999 novel ''
White Oleander ''White Oleander'' is a 1999 novel by American author Janet Fitch. It is a coming-of-age story about a child (Astrid) who is separated from her mother (Ingrid) and placed in a series of foster homes. It deals with themes of motherhood. The book ...
'', which was selected for
Oprah's Book Club Oprah's Book Club was a book discussion club segment of the United States, American talk show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey started the book club in 1996, selecting a new book, usually a nov ...
in May 1999.


Plot

Astrid Magnussen, 15, lives in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
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, ends when she discovers he is cheating. Murdering him with white
oleander ''Nerium oleander'' ( ), most commonly known as oleander or nerium, is a shrub or small tree cultivated worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas as an ornamental and landscaping plant. It is the only species currently classified in the ge ...
poison, Ingrid is incarcerated, leaving Astrid under social services' control. Starr Thomas, a former
stripper A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor party or other private event. M ...
, recovering alcoholic and
born-again Christian Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...
is Astrid's first foster mother. Initially interacting well, Astrid is baptised into her church. Ingrid finds out, setting Astrid against them. Believing Astrid is sleeping with Starr's live-in boyfriend Ray, she 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 her not to report her, so Astrid 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. She begs her not to, she seems to recant, only to commit suicide that night, devastating Astrid. Astrid tells Ingrid of Claire's death, and that she was returned to Mac. Blaming her for the suicide, Astrid announces she won't visit again. In 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 Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
Rena Gruschenka, who uses kids as laborers for her flea market business. With Rena, she becomes colder and colder with her outward appearance, matching her inside demeanor. Her mother's attorney Susan Vallares, charmed by her mother approaches Astrid, offering anything she wants in exchange for lying for her in court, as her mother has benefactors. As Astrid refuses, 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. When she balks at the idea, Rena tells her to use her mother like her mother wants to use her. Astrid surprises Ingrid one final time in prison. Now she has black hair, harsh makeup, and dark clothes. In control over her mother for once, Astrid demands answers about her past in exchange for testifying that Barry committed suicide. She hammers her with questions about Barry, her father, Claire, and Annie, whom Astrid vaguely recalls from her toddler years. Annie was a neighbor who kept Astrid for over a year while Ingrid went wild. Astrid's father came looking for her when she was 8, but she turned him away. Devastated by these revelations, Ingrid claims she would undo all she has done. Although Astrid begs her to not make her testify, she refuses. Astrid seeks letters from Paul from a comic book shop. He soon shows up in LA and they renew their relationship. He accompanies her to her mother's trial as she waits to testify. The courtroom empties 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 blond-again Astrid lives in
NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
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 Alison Marion Lohman (born September 18, 1979) is an American former actress. Born in Palm Springs, California, she began her career with small roles in short and independent films. Lohman headlined the drama film '' White Oleander'' (2002), wh ...
as Astrid Magnussen *
Robin Wright Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American actress. She has won a Golden Globe Award and a Satellite Award, and has received eleven Emmy Award nominations for her work in television. Wright first gained attention for her role in t ...
as Starr Thomas *
Michelle Pfeiffer Michelle Marie Pfeiffer (; born April 29, 1958) is an American actress and producer. A prolific performer whose List of Michelle Pfeiffer performances, screen work spans over four decades, she became one of Hollywood's most bankable stars and ...
as Ingrid Magnussen *
Renée Zellweger Renée Kathleen Zellweger (; born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards, she was one of the world's highest-paid ...
as Claire Richards *
Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...
as Barry Kolker *Svetlana Efremova as Rena Gruschenka *
Patrick Fugit Patrick Raymond Fugit (; born October 27, 1982) is an American actor. He has appeared in the films ''Almost Famous'' (2000), ''White Oleander'' (2002), ''Spun'' (2003), ''Saved!'' (2004) and '' Wristcutters: A Love Story'' (2006), and portrayed ...
as Paul Trout *
Cole Hauser Cole Hauser (born March 22, 1975) is an American actor. He is known for film roles in ''Higher Learning'', ''School Ties'', '' Dazed and Confused'', ''Good Will Hunting'', '' Pitch Black'', ''Tigerland'', ''Hart's War'', ''Tears of the Sun'', '' ...
as Ray *
Noah Wyle Noah Strausser Speer Wyle (; born June 4, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as John Carter (ER), John Carter in the television series ''ER (TV series), ER'' (1994–2009), which earned him nominations for three Golden Glo ...
as Mark Richards *
Amy Aquino Amy Aquino McCoy (born March 20, 1957) is an American television, film, and stage actress. The graduate of Harvard and Yale universities has appeared in television series such as '' Brooklyn Bridge'', '' ER'', and ''Being Human'', and was nominat ...
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 Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...
turned down offers to direct the film and play Ingrid Magnussen.
Alison Lohman Alison Marion Lohman (born September 18, 1979) is an American former actress. Born in Palm Springs, California, she began her career with small roles in short and independent films. Lohman headlined the drama film '' White Oleander'' (2002), wh ...
wore a wig throughout filming because she had just finished playing a cancer patient in deleted scenes from the film ''
Dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...
'' (2002). The film clip Claire (
Renée Zellweger Renée Kathleen Zellweger (; born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards, she was one of the world's highest-paid ...
) shows Astrid as an example of her acting career is of Zellweger's own early performance in ''
The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre ''The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (also known as ''Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation'') is a 1995 American black comedy slasher film written, co-produced, and directed by Kim Henkel. It serves as the direct sequel to ''T ...
'' (1994).


Release


Reception

''White Oleander'' holds a rating of 70% on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
and a score of 61 on
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, indicating generally favorable reviews.
Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...
, writing for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', 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 A tumbleweed is a kind of plant habit or structure. Tumbleweed, tumble-weed or tumble weed may also refer to: Films * ''Tumbleweeds'' (1925 film), William S. Hart film * ''Tumbling Tumbleweeds'' (1935 film), Gene Autry film * ''Tumbleweed'' (1 ...
'' (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 Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Katav ...
, writing for ''The Observer'', named it as a runner-up on his list of the ten best English-language films of 2002.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
, writing for the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'', 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 ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called Pfeiffer's role the "most complex screen performance of her career... at once irresistible and diabolical", while the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' singled out her "riveting, impeccable performance in what is literally and figuratively a killer role." ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' 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... aken onwith 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 The San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award given by the San Diego Film Critics Society The San Diego Film Critics Society (SDFCS) is an organization of film reviewers from San Diego-based publications that ...
, 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 The Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture is one of the Satellite Awards presented annually by the International Press Academy The International Press Academy (IPA) is an American association of professional entertainm ...
. Lohman was nominated for the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Newcomer.
Marc Donato Marc Giuseppe Donato (born January 25, 1989) is a Canadian actor. Career One of the earliest films in which Donato appears is as eight-year-old Mike Hillary in the low budget television film, ''Specimen''. Later roles include Derek Haig on '' ...
won a
Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...
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.


References


External links

* * *
Movie stills
*{{wikiquotelang, ru, Белый олеандр (фильм), Белый олеандр 2000s teen drama films American coming-of-age films American teen drama films Films scored by Thomas Newman Films based on American novels Films directed by Peter Kosminsky Warner Bros. films 2002 drama films Films about mother–daughter relationships 2000s English-language films 2000s American films