Teenager Astrid Magnussen is having a bad hair day. Make that a bad hair life. Her father abandoned the family when she was a baby. Her mother Ingrid is serving 35 years to life in jail for murdering her boyfriend after discovering he was cheating on her. Her first foster mother, Starr, shot and wounded her when she began to suspect that Astrid had lustful designs on her live-in lover. Her second foster mother, Claire, committed suicide after the breakdown of her marriage. Her third, a Russian immigrant, exploits her foster children as cheap labour in her business. In between fosterings Astrid lives in a grim orphanage which seems rather less comfortable and welcoming than the prison in which her mother is incarcerated.If there were a Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Fictitious Characters the makers of this film would be in big trouble indeed, although they would not be the only ones. I have never read the original novel by Janet Fitch, but I understand that in it Astrid is subjected to even greater sufferings which a merciful scriptwriter decided to spare her here.Any synopsis of its plot would make "White Oleander" seem like the cinematic of all those "tragic life stories" (aka "misery porn") which were filling our bookshops during the early 2000s, with the difference that the story told in this film is purely fictional, whereas misery porn generally is (or purports to be) based upon real-life events. Yet there is more to it than that; the film is skilfully directed by Peter Kosminsky and features some fine performances from a number of actresses. (The male members of the cast are generally less prominent).Michelle Pfeiffer's Ingrid is clearly intelligent, but also arrogant and totally lacking in moral insight, showing no remorse for her crime. Like Belloc's Godolphin Horne she "holds the human race in scorn"; she dismisses the working class as "trailer trash", and has a fixed prejudice against religion, especially Christianity, a prejudice which she tries to justify in the name of reason but which owes more to intellectual pride. She is horrified to see Astrid wearing a cross given to her by Starr, a former stripper turned born-again Christian, although in this case she might have some justification for her suspicion of Christianity. Starr (played in another fine performance by Robin Wright Penn) is the sort of born-again hypocrite whose faith does not prevent her from carrying on an adulterous relationship with a man still legally married to someone else and for whom accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour is not necessarily incompatible with trying to shoot your foster daughter.This is one of the finest performances I have seen Pfeiffer give. (She also looks stunning, far younger than her age of 44). Ingrid is a repellent individual, and yet Pfeiffer makes us realise that she is nevertheless a human being, particularly towards the end when her more vulnerable side becomes apparent. Pfeiffer's Ingrid is complemented by Alison Lohman's Astrid. Ingrid's main aim is to turn her into a younger version of herself, and Astrid's is to resist this process and to establish herself as her own person.The story is set in Southern California, and this is reflected in the brilliant light and bright primary colours which predominate in the film. Kosminsky makes particular use of the colour blue, and most scenes, especially those featuring Ingrid, have at least one prominent bright blue object.The film's main weakness is a lack of plausibility as far as the storyline is concerned, which is why I am unable to give it a higher mark. Any one of the mishaps which befall Astrid might be plausible in itself. That so many mishaps could have happened to a 15-year-old girl, at least without destroying her psychologically, starts to strain credibility. Some of the characters did not seem very credible either, especially Claire, although I felt this was less the fault of Renée Zellweger than of the script, which never told us much about Claire's background or enabled us to understand her frailties. I also wondered just how realistic was the portrayal of California's social services system. If Astrid's experiences are anything to go by, it would appear that the chief requirement for foster parents in the Golden State is to be totally unsuited to be a foster parent. The acting and the direction of the film are good, but the plot could have been better. 6/10

Astrid Magnussen (Alison Lohman) is a sweet sensitive Californian girl with her dominating artistic unconventional mother Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer). It's a reasonable life until her mother is arrested for her boyfriend Barry Kolker (Billy Connolly)'s murder. Astrid is taken by Children's Services and shuttled from one disaster after another. Her mother is convicted for life in prison. Her first foster mother is the religious Starr (Robin Wright) who was a former stripper. She gets involved with Starr's boyfriend and Starr ends up shooting her. Then she goes to the group home where she is picked on. There she finds a soulmate in Paul Trout (Patrick Fugit). Then she goes with the fragile Clare (Renée Zellweger), and finally with the money scheming Rena (Svetlana Efremova).Alison Lohman has her big breakthrough performance as the sensitive Astrid. She does a fragile person quite well. And she can show her character grow just as well. However her reserved nature limits the tension. She really needs to break down and cry in the group home. Michelle Pfeiffer is given a complex character to play in this one. She does an admirable job. Although I wonder if Robin Wright would do a better job. Pfeiffer has a streak of nice sweetness in her that she can't quite shake. The movie needs her to have a meaner spirit. Overall it is a big vast personal melodrama. The acting is done well. The story is compelling.

I am not a fan of such movies, to be honest with you. I like good dramas and if they introduce good actors - the better. The White Oleander is a good work, decent, honest, deep and still flawed a bit. I have never read the book and the movie was a first time experience for me, and quite a nice revelation. I enjoyed the parts played by all great actors here, as Michelle Pfeiffer, Renee Zellwegger, Anna Lohman, Tom Fugit and many did a decent and very good job, which is obvious. Maybe, the movie drags at times and becomes a bit too slow in some moments, and then there is an overflow of sentimental nonsense sometimes, too, but then, this is the law of the genre And oh, one more moment - if my wife, who read the book, had not told me about the poison of the flower which gave the name to the movie, I'd never guess why on earth the film was titled so and why this milk was shown there several times.

I was really amazed at the performance delivered by the actors especially alison lohman, renee zellweger and michelle pfeiffer. This is a movie which delivers the story mentioned in the novel in the best possible way. Nice direction and cinematography as well. I was especially amazed by the 2 scenes which showed the location - Ladera Heights in Los Angeles,CA. The way this location was used, the background music (sound created by sea waves), the scene at that moment .. everything was quite intriguing. I repeated that scene many times and thought before dying I should stay in a home like that for at least a week. Ms Zellweger did quite a nice job of a faithful wife devoted to her husband and really felt bad for wht happened later. Its very difficult to get a wife that devoted to her hubby and if a woman like that exists then she should choose a right partner. Pfeiffer's cold-blooded view on life was a little out of the league. But given her life story nothing else wud have been expected. Robin Wright reminded me of so called "God's people" who just read the scriptures and never follow it in their lives. Lohman did a great job acting in various circumstances was at her best through the movie. Overall I give 10 out of 10 and recommend it for people who believe that life's not fair for everyone and for those who want a Feel GOOD movie!