Director: Greta Gerwig
Writer: Greta Gerwig (Screenplay) Louisa May Alcott (Novel)
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothee Chalamet, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk
Plot: Jo March reflects back and forth on her life, telling the beloved story of the March sisters – four young women each determined to live life on their own terms.
Tagline – Own your story
Runtime: 2 Hours 15 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Not My Type of Film
Story: Little Women starts as we meet Jo March (Ronan) who is selling her first story anonymously to the paper, one of four sisters, with Amy (Pugh) an aspiring artists aiming for Paris, Meg (Watson) a dressmaker, and Beth (Scanlen) the musician, who have all grown up to want to achieve more than any women of their era could imagine.
As the four women looks to make their own identity, they all seem to fall for the charms of Laurie (Chalamet) who at different times of their lives, pushes them down a path they shouldn’t have gone, as they look to break boundaries.
Thoughts on Little Women
Characters – Jo March is the author, the one telling the story about her sisters lives, living in New York away from the family, using her writing abilities to make a name for herself, she is the oldest of the girls and usually watches out for them. Meg is the dressmaker that has followed a more traditional life of marriage over following the dreams like the others. Amy is the youngest member of the March family, an artist who wants to be in Paris for her work, she often has learnt from her sisters decisions, being left behind at times, looking for attention when the older ones are invited to events she isn’t. Beth is the musical one, she is the shiest and her timid nature makes her the one you will learn the least about. Marmee is the mother of the girls that is always there when they need someone, she will encourage them to achieve greatness in their lives. Laurie is the young man that seems to be involved with all of the girls, his character confuses me a lot, because he decides he loves each of them over the course of the film.
Performances – Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh got the Oscar nominations for their performances, they are the two strongest of the performers in the film, while Emma Watson and Eliza Scanlen don’t get enough time to shine on the same level, Laura Dern is great impact performer, while Timothee Chalamet does everything he character is meant to, even though he confuses me with what is going on.
Story – The story here follows four sisters as they look to follow their ambitious and become experts in their fields of different arts, only they must battle against the era that claims a woman can only be around for love, something they all look to have to go with their successful ideas. This is based on a classic novel that is considered one of the greatest ever written, the story shows how women wanted to make a different becomes something not just wives, this is important to see in the modern times too. Where this story doesn’t seem to work is the constant time jumps, spending most of the time talking about not wanting to get married only for the next scene to be all about love, this is confusing at times, with the character of Laurie that doesn’t seem to make sense either. I can see that I am not the target audience for this film, which is why it is harder to get any sort of enjoyment in the story.
Romance – The romance in the film focuses on the four women who want to have careers and will end up falling in love along the way, it still feels more arranged, rather than natural love.
Settings – The film uses the settings wonderfully to make us feel like we are part of the era, experience houses in the countryside.
Scene of the Movie – We could have a hit.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Laurie is a confusing character.
Final Thoughts – This is a film that is doesn’t seem to be hit what I enjoy watching, it has strong acting, though the story is hard to follow at times though.
Overall: Not My Thing.
