Little Women

After crafting her own marvelous coming of age story with 2017's Lady Bird, writer-director Greta Gerwig tackles Little Women, perhaps the most famous coming of age story of all time.  The 1868 novel has been adapted in various formats, from film and stage, and even a Japanese anime.  All of these have tackled Louisa May Alcott's story in different fashions.  What Gerwig does is combine the semi-autobiographical story with elements of the author's thoughts on the world at the time.

The end result is something quite joyous, and one of the better films of 2019.  In a bold move, the director has not made a straight up adaptation here.  Oh, it follows the original story closely enough.  But, it also tells the story out of sequence, and also adds a personal touch by framing the story around the efforts of lead heroine Jo (Saoirse Ronan) to sell her book to a hard-headed publisher (Tracy Letts), which likely mirror Alcott's own experiences in trying to sell the novel back in the day.  The ending has also been altered slightly.  How purists will feel about these changes might be up to debate, but I personally appreciated the gambles that Gerwig has taken with her adaptation, and think they have paid off flawlessly.  This is a beautiful film, filled with life and performances that add to the growing list of Award-worthy hopefuls.

As always, the story is focused on the four March sisters, and their growth from childhood into women.  The film is divided into two time periods in the girls' lives, with a seven year gap between them.  Again, this film takes things in a somewhat different direction, jumping back and forth between the two periods.  This can be confusing at first, but the audience catches on quick enough, as the movie uses visual cues to let us know what point in time the current scene is set in.  Jo, Amy (Florence Pugh), Meg (Emma Watson) and Beth (Eliza Scanlan) grow up under the care of their mother (Laura Dern), while their father (Bob Odenkirk) is off serving in the Civil War.  Through personal victories, romances, heartbreak, jealousies and tragedies, the sisters grow personally, and grow stronger together as a family.

It's the casting that helps Little Women succeed as much as it does.  As the independent-minded Jo, Ronan is extremely likable in her second time working with Gerwig.  She's not just a spirited heroine, but she brings layers of doubt and uncertainty to the role which helps flesh her out as a character.  As her sisters, Watson and Scanlan both bring a kind of gentle grace.  We can feel the warmth in their performances together, and it really helps sell the overall theme of them growing together.  But it is Pugh's turn as Amy that is the revelation here.  She creates new layers for a character who is often misunderstood by adding a layer of intelligence to her portrayal.  She adds more sympathy to the character than in some previous adaptations, and it helps add to the richness of this adaptation.

In fact, that's kind of what I loved about this film.  It allows certain characters such as the romantic Laurie (Timothée Chalamet), and even the fairly minor role of Mr. Laurence (a wonderful Chris Cooper) more depth than you might be expecting.  This is a movie that celebrates the imperfections of its characters, even Jo, who has a few more moments of weakness here than in some other film versions of the novel.  Gerwig is really diving into these characters, and letting us see some new angles here.  That's part of what gives this film the life that it has.  It's not just the performances that are on display, but the screenplay itself that is worthy of attention.  At only her third time behind the camera, Gerwig shows a real mastery of not just successfully telling a familiar story, but bringing new excitement into it.

Little Women succeeds not just as an adaptation, but also in celebrating the imperfections of the characters.  This is a bold film, but it's as warm and heartfelt as you could ever want it to be.  It's a wonderful entertainment, and one that you should make time for in this current crop of holiday releases.

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