I bought this DVD yesterday and watched it the same night. As others have said, I don't think that the screenplay did the novel of the same name (by Janet Fitch) justice.
"White Oleander" is probably one of my favorite novels and I've read it many, many times. The main flaw that I saw in the movie was the absence of Marvel Turlock, another foster mother from the book. Why was Marvel left out? Did the screenwriter think that seeing the way Marvel treated Astrid was going to make the film harder to watch? Another character that was central to the novel was Olivia Johnstone, Marvel's neighbor. In the novel Marvel is a racist and calls Olivia some horrible racist names, not to mention calling her a 'whore'. Sometimes, harder is better. Leaving this part of the novel out of the movie was unacceptable. Some other things that irked me were the changing of Ingrid into an artist instead of a poet - why was that done? It was stupid and unecessary. And why in the name of God was the name of Noah Wyle's character changed from Ron to Mark? If you're going to write a screenplay based on a novel, at least do it justice.
Granted, "White Oleander" is not a bad movie. The character of Starr is played very well by Robin Wright Penn, who is a superb actress. The reviewer who complained about the casting of Michelle Pfeiffer as Ingrid, I have to say that I disagree with you on that point. In the novel Ingrid is described as being beautiful, almost ethereal. Michelle Pfeiffer fits the bill perfectly. No one else could have portrayed the selfish Ingrid Magnusson as well as Pfeiffer did. I feel very strongly about that.
As I've said before, this isn't a bad movie. Read the book too, and give yourself a chance to see how that movie should have been made. And see if you agree with me.
"White Oleander" is probably one of my favorite novels and I've read it many, many times. The main flaw that I saw in the movie was the absence of Marvel Turlock, another foster mother from the book. Why was Marvel left out? Did the screenwriter think that seeing the way Marvel treated Astrid was going to make the film harder to watch? Another character that was central to the novel was Olivia Johnstone, Marvel's neighbor. In the novel Marvel is a racist and calls Olivia some horrible racist names, not to mention calling her a 'whore'. Sometimes, harder is better. Leaving this part of the novel out of the movie was unacceptable. Some other things that irked me were the changing of Ingrid into an artist instead of a poet - why was that done? It was stupid and unecessary. And why in the name of God was the name of Noah Wyle's character changed from Ron to Mark? If you're going to write a screenplay based on a novel, at least do it justice.
Granted, "White Oleander" is not a bad movie. The character of Starr is played very well by Robin Wright Penn, who is a superb actress. The reviewer who complained about the casting of Michelle Pfeiffer as Ingrid, I have to say that I disagree with you on that point. In the novel Ingrid is described as being beautiful, almost ethereal. Michelle Pfeiffer fits the bill perfectly. No one else could have portrayed the selfish Ingrid Magnusson as well as Pfeiffer did. I feel very strongly about that.
As I've said before, this isn't a bad movie. Read the book too, and give yourself a chance to see how that movie should have been made. And see if you agree with me.