Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I Getting in step Members of a step team gather around Eddie Nance, center, as they learn their dance to compete against the other two ; teams at the i Alpha Phi Alpha step show, “Steppin’ With ' South Campus,” part of Creed Week. | PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE J GAMECOCK MOVIE REVIEW ‘Oleander’doesn’t cut it on film “WHITE OLEANDER” Starring Alison Lohman, Michelle Phieffer, and Robin Wright Penn ★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ BY KRISTIN CHANDLER THE GAMECOCK “White Oleander,” a film of fam ily dysfunction, love and survival, is a good effort from director Peter Kominsky, but doesn’t quite cut it. The movie, adapted from Janet Fitch’s book, traces the life of teenage Astrid Magnussen, played by Alison Lohman, after her mother, Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer), is handed a life sen tence for murder. Astrid’s early years were defined by an effort to live up to her mother’s defini tions of strength and beau ty. In a childhood filled with her mother’s art, beauty and stream of sexual part ners, Astrid’s life lesson was to fear the ordinary. When Ingrid is sent to prison after she murders an ex-boyfriend, Astrid is sent to a series of foster homes and juvenile halls, each somehow better yet, in the end, worse than the one before. The foster families let Astrid try on different personalities, yet she struggles to find the her fit. Her first home is with a reformed, churchgoing, ex-alcoholic strip per, Starr, played by Robin Wright Penn. Starr reaches out to Astrid through religion. But the bond be tween them never grows strong enough to withstand the attention Starr’s boyfriend Ray (Cole Hauser) lavishes on Astrid. After a stint in a juvenile hall, Astrid is sent to live with Claire and Ron (Renee Zellweger and Noah Wyle), a troubled couple. While Claire shows Astnd how easy it is to be loved, this pairing ends in tragedy, and Astrid is sent back to juvenile hall. The now-dis trustful Claire finally makes a friend, Paul Trout (Patrick Fugit). Her next foster home is with Rena (Svetlana Efremova), a Russian woman who works at flea markets and parties hard all night. Rena teaches Astrid to harden her heart and take what she needs. Each foster mother plays her role well, but nothing compares with Pfeiffer’s electric perfor niance. As Ingrid, she is fiercely dedicated to her beliefs and por trays them with a steely glint in her eyes. The complex relationship she had with Astrid is so integral that a lesser actress could have ruined the entire movie. The love-hate, mother daughter relationship is explained as much through body language and eye contact as it is through dialogue, forcing Lohman and Pfeiffer to de velop the strong onscreen chemistry they share. Despite the spots of ter- ' rific acting, the story just does not flow as well as it could. Dramatic and im portant scenes from the book were left out entire ly, which gives the movie a choppy feeling. Viewers who haven t read the book might be confused by certain areas of the plot and a few of Astrid’s choices. Fitch’s book had the opportu nity to be a fabulous movie; a choppy adaptation forces it down a few notches to only pretty good. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@notmail.com PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Zellweger and Pfeiffer star in ‘White Oleander.” ? X’. BMW Ti'IHiir