Movie Review: Little Women (2019)
Although there are four March sisters in Little Women, the focus of the movie is on Jo, short for Josephine (Saoirse Ronan). At the beginning of the film, she's a writer in New York, trying to make a name for herself. We are eventually introduced to the other sisters: Meg (Emma Watson), who is now married with two children; Amy (Florence Pugh, Midsommar) who is off being an artist in Paris; and Beth (Eliza Scanlen), who has a talent for the piano. Their mother, Marmee (Laura Dern), is the matriarch of the household, and we eventually meet their handsome next-door neighbor, "Laurie" (Timothee Chalamet), who has a romantic interest in Jo and, later, Amy.
Most of you are probably familiar with the book, so I'll skip the rest of the recap. The ensemble here was truly fantastic, and I haven't even mentioned Meryl Streep as Aunt March, Bob Odenkirk as Mr. March (who is off serving in the war for most of the movie), and an almost unrecognizable Chris Cooper as Mr. Laurence, grandfather to Laurie. Make no mistake, though, Ronan is the star of the show here, and she pulls it off with aplomb. Emma Watson is great as well, although underused as Meg March, and the entire cast worked very well together.
Yes, definitely see this movie, even if you have yet to find a Little Women movie adaptation you like, like I had. The film flits from New York, to Concord, MA, to Paris, and the scenery is beautiful, and thus worth seeing on the big screen. The March sisters make you want to instantly befriend them, and although the movie did seem a bit long at times—it has a runtime of about 2 hours and 14 minutes—overall, I was glued to the story, and wanting to know more about their family.
Little Women will be in theaters on December 25th, and is rated PG with a runtime of 134 minutes. 4.5 stars out of 5.
