Since the birth of Hollywood, countless films have aspired to dispel the myths surrounding the city of lights, cameras, and action. Films like 1950's "Sunset Boulevard" and 1991's "Bugsy" have juxtaposed palm trees, sunshine, and mansions with murder, jealousy, and madness. These films look pretty and bright, but they showcase the darkest shades of human nature. With his adaptation of Janet Fitch's novel "White Oleander," Peter Kosminsky tries to join the ranks of such Hollywood demystifiers as Billy Wilder and Robert Altman. On that front, he succeeds only marginally. However, on other fronts, he accomplishes quite a bit.
When her mother goes to prison for a violent act of vengeance, young Astrid, the protagonist of "White Oleander," floats from foster family to foster family. Due in part to the efforts of her conniving mother Ingrid, Astrid cannot seem to settle down in any one place; conflict always strikes. As time goes by, innocent Astrid must confront the cruelest of circumstances, again and again. Her foster mothers have strikingly different characteristics, but no one of them is what she seems. From her beautiful but selfish mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) to the allegedly "saved" but jealous Starr (Robin Wright) to the kindly but ill-equipped Claire (Renee Zellweger), Alison Lohman's Astrid seems to have nowhere safe to turn.
The film's poster says almost all that needs to be said about the plot and theme of "White Oleander." The poster displays the faces of the four leads; all four are blonde, all four look beautiful, and each face seems to meld into the next. While beauty resides, an eeriness pervades the image; everything looks a little too perfect. As it happens, it is. Each face hides some tragic truth that will guide the flow of Astrid's young life. Like the shining city in which the film takes place, the leading ladies of "White Oleander" are externally pretty but internally dark and unstable. This is ail very well, but we've seen it before, done better, in other films.
The larger arc of Astrid's character comes across brilliantly, but the structure moves in episodic fashion, which prevents the film from having a true climax. Moreover, the movie's supposed payoff, an imminent confrontation between Astrid and Ingrid, comes across as simply a rehash of what the audience already knows. The film seems too desperate at times to make its point; it even resorts to wistful narration that, while softly spoken, still manages to hit the viewer over the head. Even some of the shots in the film try so hard to show eerie beauty that they come across as hackneyed and heavy-handed. Still, "White Oleander" offers up a lot of greatness in other areas.
All four "leading" performances work brilliantly. Alison Lohman has a great understanding of her character, and thus manages to play every one of her emotional and physical states with conviction. While not given much screen time to flex her always exciting acting muscles, Robin Wright fleshes out her Bible-thumping mother with just enough humanity to make her believable; the character stands as a bit of a stereotype, but Wright at least gives it emotional resonance. Even better is Zellweger as Claire. She communicates sweetness and quiet instability with shocking humor and grace; just as Astrid loves and admires her, we do. All things considered, though, Michelle Pfeiffer gives the performance of the film. As Ingrid, she is ferocious. An actress who rarely resorts to theatricality for her roles, Pfeiffer plays every scene so true to character; she is truly scary.
In the end, "White Oleander" moves fairly quickly, although not very subtly, towards a disappointing finale. It will not be remembered for its not-so-groundbreaking plot, but it should be remembered for its brilliant performances. Where the film sometimes fails to show the whitewashed grime of its city, the actresses compellingly render the whitewashed grime of humanity.
When her mother goes to prison for a violent act of vengeance, young Astrid, the protagonist of "White Oleander," floats from foster family to foster family. Due in part to the efforts of her conniving mother Ingrid, Astrid cannot seem to settle down in any one place; conflict always strikes. As time goes by, innocent Astrid must confront the cruelest of circumstances, again and again. Her foster mothers have strikingly different characteristics, but no one of them is what she seems. From her beautiful but selfish mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) to the allegedly "saved" but jealous Starr (Robin Wright) to the kindly but ill-equipped Claire (Renee Zellweger), Alison Lohman's Astrid seems to have nowhere safe to turn.
The film's poster says almost all that needs to be said about the plot and theme of "White Oleander." The poster displays the faces of the four leads; all four are blonde, all four look beautiful, and each face seems to meld into the next. While beauty resides, an eeriness pervades the image; everything looks a little too perfect. As it happens, it is. Each face hides some tragic truth that will guide the flow of Astrid's young life. Like the shining city in which the film takes place, the leading ladies of "White Oleander" are externally pretty but internally dark and unstable. This is ail very well, but we've seen it before, done better, in other films.
The larger arc of Astrid's character comes across brilliantly, but the structure moves in episodic fashion, which prevents the film from having a true climax. Moreover, the movie's supposed payoff, an imminent confrontation between Astrid and Ingrid, comes across as simply a rehash of what the audience already knows. The film seems too desperate at times to make its point; it even resorts to wistful narration that, while softly spoken, still manages to hit the viewer over the head. Even some of the shots in the film try so hard to show eerie beauty that they come across as hackneyed and heavy-handed. Still, "White Oleander" offers up a lot of greatness in other areas.
All four "leading" performances work brilliantly. Alison Lohman has a great understanding of her character, and thus manages to play every one of her emotional and physical states with conviction. While not given much screen time to flex her always exciting acting muscles, Robin Wright fleshes out her Bible-thumping mother with just enough humanity to make her believable; the character stands as a bit of a stereotype, but Wright at least gives it emotional resonance. Even better is Zellweger as Claire. She communicates sweetness and quiet instability with shocking humor and grace; just as Astrid loves and admires her, we do. All things considered, though, Michelle Pfeiffer gives the performance of the film. As Ingrid, she is ferocious. An actress who rarely resorts to theatricality for her roles, Pfeiffer plays every scene so true to character; she is truly scary.
In the end, "White Oleander" moves fairly quickly, although not very subtly, towards a disappointing finale. It will not be remembered for its not-so-groundbreaking plot, but it should be remembered for its brilliant performances. Where the film sometimes fails to show the whitewashed grime of its city, the actresses compellingly render the whitewashed grime of humanity.