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A Review of “Little Women” by Jake Maddia
“Little Women” Review, written by Jake Maddia (Photo: Brooklyn Vegan)
Little Women is directed by Greta Gerwig; and stars Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlen, Timothee Chalamet, Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, Tracy Letts, Chris Cooper, and Bob Odenkirk. The movie is an adaptation to Louisa May Alcott’s famous novel, and it tells the story of four sisters who are coming of age during the aftermath of The Civil War.
Before I go any further, I want to apologize for this review being up so late. I had a very busy week so thank you for your patience. Putting that aside, lets get to the review.
I didn’t really know what to expect with this movie because I was not a humongous fan of Greta Gerwig’s last movie, Lady Bird from 2017. I thought it was alright but I didn’t love it as much as other people did. But since I loved the cast, I figured I would give this movie a chance, and I got to say this is one of the biggest surprises of this entire year.
One of the best aspects to Little Women is the performances. Saoirse Ronan gives the best performance of her entire career in this film! She is so good as this character, and you can tell that she is just having so much fun playing the role too. I also found myself really caring about her goal. Florence Pugh is also really good in the film. Although she plays a character that is kind of over-dramatic, she makes the character so likable. I also thought that her character had the best arch in the movie.
Although Pugh and Ronan were the scene-stealers, everyone else in the film was great as well. That being said, what really made this movie great was the relationship between the sisters. The bond that these sisters had was so charming and honestly, extremely sweet. The movie does a great job with making it feel as realistic as possible. Meaning that although they have a friendship dynamic, they still had mild arguments with one another like all siblings do.
Another great aspect to this movie is its cinematography. The films breathtaking cinematography of the countryside really makes you feel as if you are part of this environment. The color pallet in the movie is also absolutely beautiful. There is one scene in particular that has all of these women in really colorful dresses. The wide shot that I am referring to honestly looked like something you would see at an art museum. In my opinion, Yorick Le Saux was totally robbed of an Oscar for best cinematography, but that is a story for another day.
Anyway, another great element to the film is the way it is directed. I was worried that the movie was going to be the most overly serious film of the year. Thankfully, it was not. In fact, Greta Gerwig actually gives the movie a very light-hearted and fun vibe. This choice of tone just worked so well with the film. Now, this is not to say that there are not any serious scenes in the movie at all. I’m just saying that the movie is a lot more fun then it actually sounds. The writing to the movie is also brilliant! It really captures the feel of the time period without going too over the top.
The film also has a beautiful score composed expertly by Alexandre Desplant. In regards to any issues, the film tells its story using elements from the past, and present. So there is a lot of jumping around, and they pull it off great for the most part. However, sometimes it is hard to tell what the time period is. The only hint they give you is that some of the sequences in the past have a warmer tone to them, while the scenes that take place in the present have a colder tone. Another issue I have with the movie is that I didn’t really think Emma Watson’s character was that interesting. Don’t get me wrong, I thought she was wonderful in the movie but her character’s story was a little boring. There is also this “love interest” that occurs in the third act that sort of came out of nowhere in my opinion. But honestly that’s about it in regards to any negatives.
In the end, Little Women is a wonderful movie! If you are looking for a charming film that is extremely well acted, then I highly recommend Little Women for you. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!
You can check out the trailer for “Little Women” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AST2-4db4ic
Check out scenes from the movie on Instagram!
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