Little Women Movie Review

Little Women Movie Review
Little Women is the latest version of Louisa May Alcott's beloved coming-of-age novel that you may have read in high school or possibly seen one of the numerous adaptations like Gillian Armstrong's version with Winona Ryder. The story of the March sisters is one that people keep coming back to time and time again. This a parable for young girls maturing and facing social tolerances and responsibilities that are thrust upon them as they leave childhood. Greta Gerwig directs this latest version having previously done a wonderful job with another coming-of-age story Lady Bird. Little Women features an ensemble cast starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlon, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, and Meryl Streep making this film an absolute treat for people who love big all-star films.

Script Analysis
This Little Women version is that Greta Gerwig reconstructs the plot so that it jumps back forth and in time. Allowing scenes from the two parts of our Klotz novel to contrast an emotion and theme rather than playing out in a more traditional and linear fashion. It means that scenes of the girls in their younger years enjoying each other's company and the worry-free restraint of childhood are juxtaposed with the girls when they're older and attempting to find their place in the world.

This structure also allows for relationships to be developed rather than waiting for necessary story beats. With Lady Bird Greta Gerwig's Little Women is a delightfully pleasant and heartwarming experience that captures all the energy and melodrama that comes with childhood as well as the stark transition to adulthood. Gerwig wonderfully infused a contemporary attitude into Little Women while remaining pretty faithful to the novel with some white commentary on classism and elitism. Greta Gerwig is clearly someone with a lot of love for Alcott's novel capturing the post-American Civil War era through incredible costumes and impeccable production. Gerwig recreates the era with a lot of soft natural light in the girl's younger years while instilling a harder more refined use of lighting in the girl's older years for the younger years. This approach coupled with Alexander thus plots an almost whimsical score helps to find that era of youth in the stronger before appropriately aging with the girls. As a result, this feels like essentially a lost 90s period family drama as it fits well with the tone and feel of family dramas from the 90s.

Star Performance
The March sisters all burst to life with Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson Florence Pugh, and Eliza Scanlon allowed experimenting while working freely and comfortably to go within this story. Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh get the most to work with thanks to their tangled love triangle with Timothée Chalamet's Laurie'. Saoirse Ronan brings the triumphant performances of Jo March, a proxy for the author Louisa May Alcott as a woman and hearing, and finds a place in a man's world with her attempting to reject what society expects of her. Ronan once again exhibits her ability to seamlessly blends into characters while focusing intently on Jo's internal struggles of escaping isolation while maintaining her purpose. Ronan has incredible chemistry with their peers in particular Timothée Chalamet after their incredible work together in Lady Bird. It's still a little bit early but there's definitely a Hepburn and Bogart quality to watching them on screen. Ronan and Chalamet's may scene together are dynamic and show a lot of comfort and trust in each other. This movie really belongs to Florence Pugh who has just skyrocketed this year from fighting with my family to midsummer. Of course, in next year's Black Widow movie Florence Pugh brings in energy and wide-eyed wonder enchanter Amy who just makes her an absolute Jo to watch while also exhibiting the most on-screen development over the course of the film.
Negative Asepcts of Little Women Movie
Amy changes tremendously heartbreakingly facing the full force of society's expectations. Of the entire cast, Emma Watson definitely gets the least room to work with as the movie only lightly touches on Meg's struggles without expanding too much. For the most part, Little Women is told graciously and paced fairly well. Although, the back and forth between time periods can leave the film feeling uneven at times. As in the early scenes, it isn't always immediately clear where we are in time. The March sisters also don't age tremendously between periods however performances and costumes do help to distinguish periods but early on it can be a little confusing. The third act and ending can feel a little dragged out as well as there are several points where the film feels like it is finished before it carries on for another 30 minutes making the movie feel a little indulgent much like Return of the Kings movie ending.
Conclusion
That all being said, Little Women is a wonderfully sincere look at maturing and the cruel consequences of social intolerance. While in the United States, Little Women has a PG rating. In Australia, this is a G-rated awards season drama which is incredibly rare making this an easy recommendation for families. Little Women is heartwarming heartbreaking and a real treat even when it plays things a little safe. Definitely give it a shot.
From me, Little Women gets a 9 out of 10.