 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
White Oleander
- Review Date: May 19, 2003
- PG-13
- Genre: Drama
- 2002
Common Sense Media says
Upsetting and dark, for older than PG-13.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this movie includes brutality of a modern-era Dickensian quality. Astrid is seduced by one foster parent and shot by another. A third commits suicide. Astrid is subjected to physical and emotional abuse. Ingrid murders her lover. There are non-explicit sexual situations and references. Characters drink, smoke, and use drugs. Characters use strong language and mock religious faith.
What's the story?
When strong willed artist Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer) murders her lover, she is sent to prison, leaving her daughter Astrid (Alison Lohman) to a series of foster homes. First, Astrid lives with Starr (Robin Wright Penn), a situation that starts out fine until Astrid gets involved with Starr's live-in boyfriend. Astrid's other foster homes include Claire (Renée Zellweger), a weepy actress with a distant husband, and Rena (Svetlana Efremova), a money-hungry Russian who rules a ragtag group of orphans. In between, she stays at an institution, where she is beat up by tough girls but befriended by sensitive Paul (Patrick Fugit). Each setting provides Astrid with a new identity to try and a new opportunity to be hurt. Through it all, she visits her mother in prison, and it becomes clear that the woman who killed the man who tried to leave her would also do anything -- and destroy anyone -- to hold on to her daughter. Whenever Astrid seems happy, Ingrid finds a way to ruin it, leaving Astrid confused and self-destructive. Finally, though, she learns that she is reacting to Ingrid, and that to be fully her own person she must find her own way to intimacy and expression.
Is it any good?
WHITE OLEANDER is adapted from a book with language was both vivid and lyrical that made the terrible events more epic than sordid. The movie tries to achieve the same standard, going for prestige drama over soap opera. But even the an exquisite performance by Michelle Pfeiffer and powerhouse appearances by Robin Wright Penn and newcomer Alison Lohman cannot keep the endless series of tragedies from melodrama.
A Jungian analysis might suggest that the story is a metaphor for the inevitable separation in all mother-daughter relations. All of the mother figures -- Ingrid, the foster moms, and the social worker -- are like one mother splintered into many extreme versions, as though reflected through a prism. All children find their mother to be many things, from the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving figure of their earliest memories to the extremely demanding and ultimately rejecting caricature she can appear to a teenager struggling to know herself.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about how Astrid changes her appearance and manner to reflect each of her "homes," while Ingrid seems almost untouched by her surroundings.
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AGE
Excellent, but parents should tread with caution
I first saw this movie when I was eleven years old, and while it a very enlightening experience, I was disturbed by it. Now, three years and having since read the book by the same name, I admit that it's tamer than the book but still not appropriate for the average young adult.
This film follows the journey of Astrid Magnussen as she is moved from foster home to foster home following the imprisonment of her murderous mother. Throughout, it interweaves such central emotions as jealousy, rage, grief, disappointment, and ultimately forgiveness; and it's all neatly tied together with astonishing performances and lovely cinematography.
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AGE
A good movie, but for older teens.
I saw this movie, and there are many issues in it that younger teens may find disturbing or not understand. This includes drugs, drinking, sex, a suicide, sexual references, a shooting and more things that I thought were very intense for a PG-13.
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AGE
Astounding performances!
Performed beautifully by Pfeiffer and Lohman, this movie is exquisite. It deals with very mature themes and is not recommended for children of any age. I think it should've been rated an R, or almost. It is one of the most depressing movies I've seen, in a good way. Michelle Pfeiffer should have won an oscar! Renee did an excellent job as well and served the most heart breaking part of the movie, which I cried. I give it a 5/5.
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AGE
One of the best films i have ever seen.
I love this movie, it`s beautiful. One of the best films i have ever seen.
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| Studio: | Warner Bros. |
| Director: | Peter Kominsky |
| Cast: | Alison Lohman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robin Wright Penn |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Run time: | 110 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | October 4, 2002 |
| DVD release date: | March 11, 2003 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | drug use, violence, sexual references, and intense trauma |
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