White Oleander (film)
White Oleander is a 2002 American drama film directed by Peter Kosminsky. The cast 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 (Alison Lohman) lives in LA with her mother, free-spirited artist Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer). Her father left before she was old enough to remember him , so she depends heavily upon her passionate but self-centered mother's. Ingrid's relationship with a writer, Barry (Billy Connolly) ends when she discovers he is cheating on her. Murdering him with white oleander poison, Ingrid is incarcerated, leaving Astrid at the mercy of social services. Starr Thomas (Robin Wright), a former stripper, recovering alcoholic and born-again Christian is Astrid's first foster mother. Initially interacting well, Astrid is baptised into her church. When Ingrid finds out she sets Astrid against her foster family. Believing Astrid is having an affair with Starr's live-in boyfriend Ray (Cole  Hauser), she falls off the wagon. In a drunken rage, she argues loudly with Ray, then shoots Astrid in the shoulder. Starr and Ray disappear; the children beg her not to say who shot her, so Astrid plays along. Astrid recovers in a hospital before being moved to McKinney Children's Center (known as "Mac"). After fighting with some girls, she makes friends with fellow artist Paul Trout (Patrick Fugit). Astrid is placed with Claire Richards (Renée Zellweger), a former actress, and her producer husband Mark (Noah Wyle). Fragile but affectionate, she closely bonds with Astrid, who finally begins to  thrive. One day, Astrid discovers Ingrid has been corresponding with Claire and insists on meeting. At the prison visit, Ingrid jealously exploits Claire's low self-esteem and suspicions over Mark's fidelity. Claire's depression worsens; a bad fight with Mark, makes her considers sending Astrid back. She begs her not to, she seems to recant, only to commit suicide that night, devastating Astrid. Astrid visits Ingrid in prison to inform her 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 when he turns 18 soon he will move to New York. He asks her to go with him but she coldly refuses. Passing up good foster parent candidates, Astrid chooses Russian immigrant Rena Gruschenka (Svetlana Efremova), who uses the kids as cheap 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 (Kali Rocha), charmed by her mother, approaches Astrid, offering anything she wants in exchange for lying for her mother in court, as her mother has benefactors. Astrid refuses; Rena  tells her she's stupid to turn down money, then offers to make her an equal partner in her business, as Astrid 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. No longer blond, she has black hair, harsh makeup, and dark clothes. Realizing she has 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 so Ingrid could run wild. She further admits that 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, but when Astrid begs her to not make her testify, she refuses. Astrid goes to a comic book shop looking for letters from Paul. He soon shows up by bus in Los Angeles and they renew their relationship. He accompanies her  to her mother's trial as she waits to testify. The courtroom lets out and she goes to see what happened. Susan explains that Ingrid instructed her to not include Astrid in the trial. 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 exhales that her mother finally let her go. Two years later, a blond-again Astrid lives in New York City with Paul. Tending to her art; dioramas in suitcases depicting all she has been through. As she  passes them, she closes each, stating she will never visit the horrors they contain again. Pausing at the final suitcase depicting Ingrid, Astrid reflects that no matter how flawed Ingrid is, she knows her mother loves her. Production. 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). Release. 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.