Film Review: Little Women

Originally published December 26, 2019

Greta Gerwig’s Little Women is the eighth film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel and the second in two years. The book has also been adapted several times in other mediums. It’s not hard to think nothing new can be gained from the work. Gerwig’s adaptation proves otherwise.

The novel is about the transition between childhood and adulthood and is in chronological order. The four March sisters appear in two periods of their lives. Gerwig intertwines the two, cutting between them at significant turning points. She uses color grading to aid the viewer, draping childhood in orange, almost sepia-esque tones and using blue for adulthood. It makes the themes of loss and transition more noticeable and impactful.

Gerwig’s script is terrific and she writes it such that it couldn’t work any other way. Little Women frequently makes callbacks and parallels within callbacks and parallels that would make no sense if presented in chronological order.

The decision to eschew chronological order leaves a critical character by the wayside: Jo’s husband, Friedrich. He is in maybe 20 minutes and only appears at the beginning and end of the film. Their relationship would be more immediately believable if he appeared more frequently throughout the film. As it is, the relationship feels rushed and tacked-on, although their final scene redeems the decision through the strength of Saoirse Ronan and Louis Garrel’s performances as Jo and Friedrich.

It helps that the editing is incredible. It’s never showy or overt but deftly guides the viewer’s eyes and mind through the story without beating them over the head. The editing makes itself known in some ways, but it’s awe-inspiring rather than eye-rolling. The film would fall apart if the editing weren’t stellar. Editor Nick Houy is more than up to the task.

The performances by the entire cast are also top-notch. Saoirse Ronan gives what could be the best performance of her career as Jo and makes a case for a fourth Oscar nomination (she’s 25, by the way). Florence Pugh caps off a great year with her performance as Amy. Their relationship forms the nucleus of the film in a way that differs from the novel or any previous adaptations.

Emma Watson’s Meg has the line in the trailer about her dreams being just as valid as Jo’s, but Amy is the character through which that idea is best expressed. Amy and Jo are at odds for much of the film, but their growth in maturity and age leads them closer. Ronan and Pugh give the two best performances in the movie and embody their characters in ways few adaptations have required of the actors playing Amy and Jo. Every other performance in the film is fantastic and worthy of note. It’s a wonder this didn’t get a SAG nomination for best ensemble when it deserved it.

The film nearly falls apart as pushes through the second act, but the recovery and some deviations from the book result in one of my favorite third acts ever committed to film. Little Women doesn’t just stick the landing. It nails it in a way few films have. It’s a film that I could watch again and again without tiring of it.

Final score: 9.4/10