Little Women
Movie Review
Little Women is a beloved novel by Louisa May Alcott with hundreds of adoring fans across the globe, in addition to multiple film adaptations. This 2019 adaptation of Little Women has an all-star cast and director - Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, Greta Gerwig, etc. - and it definitely does not disappoint.
The story of Little Women shows the glittering and sometimes mundane lives of women as they do their best to navigate their paths in life. While there is love, adventure, passion, and family, nobody in the March family can easily be bottled up into a single adjective like “wife,” “daughter,” or “mother.” As with all humans, we are so much deeper than any title that is given to us. Many critics say that this film is amazing and Greta Gerwig’s storytelling prowess is a force to be reckoned with. In the first 30 or so minutes of the film, I was a bit hesitant to agree - my thoughts went as follows: Why is this film starting off with scenes from the end of the book? Who are these people and why is there not even an attempt at proper introductions to these characters? As someone who read the book, I am able to piece together what’s going on, but if I were to take on the perspective of someone who has never read Little Women, I would be completely lost and confused. But the fact that I am familiar with the story was also frustrating, because I was a bit thrown off that we were not starting off the way that the book does. But looking back on it now, Gerwig’s decision to include time jumps from past to future paint pictures of growth that perhaps a linear story may not have been able to. As past and future plot-lines merge into the present, the story gets a little meta as well. It’s like the character of Jo March evolves into Louisa May Alcott. It was a bit odd, but insightful, I guess?
Most of the cast were a real joy to watch. Saoirse Ronan and Laura Dern absolutely killed it in their roles, and their performances brought me to tears multiple times. I also loved Florence Pugh as Amy, even though Amy is still kind of non-redeemable and annoying. Florence is a rising star and brought a more mature and reasonable side to Amy. Timothee was gorgeous, per usual, and his stand-out scene was definitely the confrontation between him and Jo on the rolling hills. Other than that, he was just eye candy as he played games with Jo in the background for most scenes. But I also have to say that there were some issues with the accents. I felt that Emma Watson’s British accent was peeking through all of her speaking parts, which is kind of awkward to hear. Even Saoirse’s American accent seemed a little overdone and over-enunciated? I feel like she’s played many parts using an American accent before, so I’m not sure what the problem was here, but some of her lines also seemed to sound oddly forced.
Overall, Little Women is a story that makes me feel warm, happy, and emotional. This is all wrapped up in a neat little bow in this 2019 adaptation, and I loved my experience watching it. There were some truly memorable scenes and gorgeous shots that will linger in my mind for some time, and with that said, I would definitely recommend it to all fans of the novel.