White Oleander (2002)

Directed by: Peter Kosminsky | 110 minutes | drama | Actors: Alison Lohman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robin Wright, Renée Zellweger, Kali Rocha, Cole Hauser, Patrick Fugit, Billy Connolly, Liz Stauber

White Oleander is a film adaptation of Janet Fitch’s novel of the same name. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t do as well on screen as it does on paper. It is known that all events in a book do not all fit in a film of an hour and a half, a lot of selection has to be made. However, ‘White Oleander’ is missing a few scenes that are so characteristic of Astrid’s life in the book and that make the reader completely immerse themselves in her. For example, when she is attacked by wild dogs, leaving her with scars on her face, just after she started to think herself beautiful. In the film she is dragged to four different families, there is little time to get used to it as a viewer. On the one hand, this is annoying, because it is so difficult to tell how Astrid is developing in the family. On the other hand, it’s good because you get so exactly the feeling Astrid has, she’s tossed around and has nowhere to settle down at all.

Fortunately, the characters are well portrayed. Pfeiffer is beautiful and strong like Ingrid, no one can get around her, not even in the scenes she isn’t in. The relationship between mother and daughter is so absurd that it is horrifying to watch. Even though you start to hate the mother herself, her fear of letting go of her daughter actually refers to her own insecurities and the fact that she was a bad mother who only thought about herself.

Robin Wright stars as trailer trash Starr, who goes to church smoking and wearing short pink skirts. She loves Astrid, but that love is soon over when she suspects Astrid is after her boyfriend Ray. Starr is ruthless and shoots her into the hospital.

Zellweger portrays the sweet mother Claire as a broken doll. Both her appearance and behavior have something of a porcelain character. She is insecure and alone, which is why she and Astrid get on so well. The love she cannot give to her husband, she gives to Astrid. In the end, her insecurity overcomes and Astrid is alone again.

Lohman, who plays Astrid, has been chosen from thousands of actresses and can also be called one of thousands after her play. She is beautiful but doesn’t realize it, unsure and wary. She changes from an insecure girl to a fighting woman who needs only herself in the first place.

Urgent advice for this movie: read the book first to get the feeling and bond with the main character. Take that feeling to the movie and fill it in where necessary.