Little Women (2019 Review)
Little Women is a Terrific End of the Year Film.
2019’s film adaptation of Little Women marks the 7th time the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott has appeared in theaters. That certainly seems like a lot, until you start counting how many times Batman has graced the silver screen. I supposed it just means that every generation is going to get their own version of the story of Jo, Amy, Beth, and Meg to look back on fondly in their twilight years. This time Greta Gerwig, who brought us the 2018 hit Lady Bird, takes a swing at the tale and manages to do an incredible job as expected. The downside is that we’ve already seen this movie, several times already. While a cast of some of the best and brightest young actresses of the day adds a fresh coat of polish, at the end of the day it’s the same old story.
Just so you know, this review might contain some inadvertent spoilers, but if you haven’t read or seen Little Women by now, you’ve got bigger problems. This version of the tale sees some top-notch talent playing the four sisters, including Saiorse Ronan as Jo, Emma Watson as Mary, Florence Plough as Amy, and Eliza Scanlen as Beth. The film follows the coming of age tale of the four sisters through a series of flashbacks from Jo’s perspective as she starts to piece together the story of their lives in a novel. They’re joined by their honorary brother, Theodore “Laurie” Lawrence (Timothée Chalamet), their neighbor who takes a shine to the girls from the moment he meets them. While life during the Civil war was far from easy, the tale of the March sisters is more or less a happy one. That is until they grow up and go from being little women to… big women, I guess. That’s when life gets a little more complicated, but in the end, their sisterly love will always be there when they need it most.
Given the names I’ve listed so far, it probably doesn’t even need to be said that the performances are outstanding in Little Women. The sisters all share remarkable chemistry that shows just how at home and comfortable they are with each other. This is emphasized by their fast-paced dialogue with rapid-fire responses that lead to a few Robert Altman-esque scenes in which they all start talking over each other. It’s clear that Gerwig was trying to emphasis the sisterly bond between them (it is a cornerstone of the novel after all) and the women she casts are absolutely perfect to bring all aspects of that from love to rivalry and even a little bit of resentment that all siblings have for one another. Just to be on the safe side, she snuck in Oscar winners Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper to play the elderly Aunt March and Mr. Lawrence, both of whom earn their paychecks. All in all, the performances in Little Women are some of the finest of the year.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a very good adaptation if there wasn’t a slightly new perspective added to help update it for modern audiences. Gerwig makes sure to pay special attention to the struggles that came with being a woman in the 1800s, and despite coming huge changes in our society, their problems are still all too relevant. Jo and Amy especially struggle with the dream of making it in the world on their own and becoming truly great artists. The problem is that the world was (and still is) very much a boys club. It was men who decided what made an artist “great” or “a genius” and more often than not, a pair of balls was a prerequisite for that. The only way for them to really succeed in life is to marry well, which the film points out is more of an economic agreement than something “done for love.” As if simply being a woman wasn’t hard enough, these little women have to deal with dear old Laurie being “that guy.” This take on his character proves him to be the very picture of male privilege. Laurie is a man who would rather wallow in self-pity than take responsibility for his actions. It’s strangely appropriate that the main male character in the film is a perpetual boy while the four sisters grow to be strong women. I suppose the more things change the more they stay the same.
Being a period piece, it’s important to point out the care taken with the production designs. Little Women takes place in rural Massachusetts, New York City, and even Paris, and the film captures the difference between them beautifully. New York is crowded, full of energy, and a little gritty. Their home in the country is warm and inviting, with wide-open space for the characters to really stand out in. Then there is Paris, which is bright and vibrant, filled with vivid colors and warm sunny days. The contrast makes it easy to differentiate the leaps through time that the flashbacks create. The costuming is also beautifully executed.with the actresses wearing gorgeous dresses throughout the film. Not all of them are ball gowns and some are even pretty scruffy looking (especially the ones worn by Jo). All of them are beautiful though and while the women appear to share a number of costume pieces (sisters, am I right?), they all maintain their own individuality throughout the film. Little Women is quite simply expertly crafted from beginning to end.
While I will admit that I enjoyed a lot of Little Women, it’s a story I’ve seen time and time again. More than that though, there were elements that I found mildly insufferable now that I’m a little bit older and a lot more cynical. While it might be a classic, it’s clearly a book meant for young adults. I’m certainly not trying to say that it’s bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it can be, at times, a bit shallow. That’s might be the worst I can say about Little Women, but that’s also probably enough to keep it from earning a spot among my picks for the top 10 movies of 2019. Despite that, Little Women is a great family film and one that any parent with little women of their own should see in theaters.
