White Oleander
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: October 11, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
15
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
With its open, spontaneous elasticity, White Oleander is that rare Hollywood film -- an attempt to understand, without judgment, a world on its own terms. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The result is an experience of painful awakenings, gorgeous textures, committed acting and silences filled with moment -- a lovely balancing act
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Pfeiffer devours every one of her scenes with a ferocious performance. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Director Peter Kosminsky elicits such genuine performances from his talented cast that the film rarely strikes a false note. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The accumulation of sharp candid flashes adds up to a disturbing vision of Los Angeles as a teeming jungle of dysfunction. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverJean Oppenheimer
No matter how restrained the direction or unsentimental the performances -- and White Oleander scores points for both -- there is no escaping the semi-trashy but oh-so-life-affirming ring of the plot. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Stronger on character than on story, the film version of Janet Fitch's best-seller is shaped and propelled by the astonishing performance of Alison Lohman. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Some of the year's most arresting female performances justify White Oleander, a highly episodic melodrama. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Overall, you're left wondering why every big novel needs to be a movie. White Oleander would work better as a four-part miniseries -- or at least as a less conventional screenplay. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
What the movie cannot take from the book is its dreamily descriptive prose and interior monologue. Perhaps because of that, the movie changes the focus from Ingrid, the more fascinating creature, to Astrid, whose clay is more malleable for the big screen. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Considering the star power -- and talent -- of the cast around her, it would have been impressive if Alison Lohman had simply held her own as Astrid, the young heroine of White Oleander. Instead, she owns the movie.
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Tends to settle for easy, homiletic insights. But it also has a collection of first-rate performances by some marvellous actresses. Read full review
70
Washington PostStephen Hunter
A lot of White Oleander is heavy sledding of the waa-waa, touchy-feely kind. But just as much of it has the sting of something so real it hurts. Read full review
70
VarietyRobert Koehler
Never rising above routine episodic storytelling, White Oleander nonetheless retains something of its source novel's ravaged emotional surface and cool, observant manner. Read full review
70
Film ThreatMichael Dequina
All the household changes give the film an episodic quality that leads to a certain start-and-stop dramatic momentum. But fresh face Lohman holds the film together emotionally, more than matching up to the bigger name stars that turn up in supporting roles. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Impressively unflappable and natural, 23-year-old Lohman -- whose best known credit is perhaps a role on Fox's short-lived ''Pasadena'' -- holds the whole plot together skillfully. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
It's not edgy or groundbreaking, but it tells the story it sets out to tell. For what it is, Kosminsky's picture is polished and effective. If only the movie had taken more risks or possessed a keener edge... Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The story is determined to be colorful and melodramatic, like a soap opera where the characters suffer in ways that look intriguing. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The whole film, in fact, seems too fast for its own good. It plays like a synopsis, jumping from scene to scene, grief to grief, and it doesn't let us relax into the various worlds it's creating. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Pfeiffer is the antithesis of the girl next door: You just have to look at her to know that she was born to be bad. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
While the film may drop a few of the novel's more disturbing moments, it still travels some emotionally rocky territory, and each of those actresses -- particularly Alison Lohman, who carries most of the movie on her young shoulders -- turns in a first-rate performance. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMichael Miller
Ultimately sacrifices nuance to tidy epiphanies about personal growth. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
White Oleander goes through the paces with a little more dignity than usual, which is a mark of either director Peter Kosminsky's refusal to overplay the melodrama, or his inability to wring it for all it's worth. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
This is a film without a center, a film whose young protagonist should have more texture, more of a compelling voice than she does. Through no real fault of the acting, young Astrid does not compel our attention the way she must if White Oleander is to succeed completely on the screen. Read full review
60
TimeRichard Corliss
Lohman's pensive loveliness carries the film. Read full review
60
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Maybe it's only half of what it could be, but at least it's a healthy half. And in this era of mainstream cookie-cutter moviemaking, that's a feat in itself. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
What diminishes the film's impact is Mary Agnes Donoghue's schematic screenplay, which follows Astrid from home to home as unswervingly as a faithful pet. Read full review
50
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
Adapted from the million-selling novel by Janet Fitch. Not adapted enough, I would say. [14 & 21 October 2002, p. 226]
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The overwrought White Oleander may be middling drama, but if it bears any resemblance to truth (which I doubt), it's a brutal indictment of the L.A. County Department of Social Services. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The estrogen overload damn near did me in. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The people who've made White Oleander appear to have spent a lot of time worrying about the audience. They should have told the story and let us take care of ourselves. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Lacks emotional power. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Wilts under a weak, formulaic story. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleSteve Davis
The metaphoric title about the danger in beautiful things sounds like something from Byron or Keats, but this compressed film adaptation of an Oprah-endorsed bestseller plays like the Dickens. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The worst mistake is the screenplay, which not only cuts everything into superficial pieces but fails to make authentic moments of anything. In the end, White Oleander isn't an adaptation of a novel. It's a flashy, star-splashed reduction. Read full review
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