White Oleander
- Original title
- White Oleander
- Year
- 2002
- Running time
- 109 min.
- Country
United States
- Director
- Screenwriter
- Mary Agnes Donoghue. Novel: Janet Fitch
- Cast
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- Alison Lohman
- Robin Wright
- Michelle Pfeiffer
- Renée Zellweger
- Billy Connolly
- Svetlana Efremova
- Patrick Fugit
- Cole Hauser
- Noah Wyle
- Taryn Manning
- Allen Lee Haff
- Melissa McCarthy
- See all credits
- Music
- Cinematography
- Producer
- Genre
- Drama
- Synopsis
- WHITE OLEANDER, the Janet Fitch novel made famous on Oprah's Book Club, is the tale of an intense and toxic mother-daughter relationship, coupled with a look at the fundamentally skewed U.S. foster care system. When the beautiful photographer Ingrid Magnusson (Michelle Pfeiffer) is imprisoned for allegedly murdering a philandering boyfriend, her daughter Astrid (Alison Lohman) does her best to survive a string of foster homes where natural adolescent mistakes turn into land mines. Her first stop is the home of a born-again Christian, Starr (Robin Wright Penn, who is so good in this part she's physically unrecognizable.) Next, she is sent to the home of a clinically depressed actress, Claire Richards (Renee Zellweger, whose natural effervescence is delightfully disturbing here.) Claire uses Astrid to fill the void left by a roaming husband (Noah Wyle). Astrid juggles her list of changing homes with visits to Mommy Dearest in prison, while suffering flashbacks of the alleged murder.
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- Awards
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2002: Screen Actors Guild (SAG): Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Michelle Pfeiffer)2002: Satellite Awards: nominated to Actress in a Supporting Rol, Drama.
- Critics' reviews
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"Stronger on character than on story, the film version of Janet Fitch's best-seller is shaped and propelled by the astonishing performance of Alison Lohman"
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"Director Peter Kosminsky elicits such genuine performances from his talented cast that the film rarely strikes a false note."
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"The worst mistake is the screenplay, which not only cuts everything into superficial pieces but fails to make authentic moments of anything."
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"Tends to settle for easy, homiletic insights. But it also has a collection of first-rate performances by some marvellous actresses"
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