Little Women Review

Greta Gerwig’s, Little Women is filled with her whimsical nature and love for the arts. It’s a great iteration for this generation, especially with this wonderful cast of actors, but sadly it fell short for me.

The reason why it fell short for me was because of the editing. The entire film was very choppy and at times I didn’t know which setting the characters were in, the past or present. Eventually, by the end, I understood where Gerwig was taking it, by having the integration of Jo March’s novel, parallel the ending, but the film needed smoother transitions in order to capture the feeling.

The script was very well written and it was an emotional journey of love, loss, friendship and the value of a life. There were so many beautiful moments and Gerwig captured such raw emotions from her actors. The cast was playful and the chemistry among them was wholesome. Saiorse Ronan was outstanding as Jo, it’s like she was born to play this character. She was vibrant, cheeky, headstrong and she loved her sisters more than life itself. This is definitely Ronan’s best performance to date and she should be getting recognition for it.

The rest of the cast was perfect but the standout was Florence Pugh as Amy March. What a terrific supporting role for this little legend to get recognized for. Amy is easily one of my favourite characters to date and Pugh delivered her fierceness to a tee. Pugh and Ronan had a strong chemistry and they were great together. Eliza Scanlan as Beth, gave a more quiet and reserved performance but her serene nature was calming. Her performance broke my heart more than the rest of them. Emma Watson also felt like everyone’s older sister as Meg and she should feel that way because my generation grew up with her, looking up to her, so it was perfect.

The young man who has stolen my heart and will continue to have me locked on him is of course, Timothée Chalamet. He was so incredibly charming as Laurie and he also broke my heart. Gerwig captured his pained glances so perfectly, that just his longing stares were enough to get me crying. It wasn’t so much the longing to be with the woman he loved but more-so the family he wish he had. It was such a lovely role for him and I love him even more, if that’s possible.

It is a solid adaptation of the novel and a great film for a new generation of women. This film will be remembered for the cast and how each of them have made a mark in our hearts with this film. However, it’s just a basic retelling of a story that has been remade plenty of times. Gerwig attempted to add her own flare to it but because of the wonky editing, the flow of the film got lost. The strength lies with the the actors and the writing for these characters but the picture as a whole didn’t do anything for me, other than make me fall for Florence Pugh.