Good afternoon everyone! Hope you all have been having a great week so far, and are ready for a new weekend up ahead, whatever you have planned! Anyway, I just want to take some time, and apologize for not getting to reviewing today’s film any earlier. I know I mentioned a while back that you guys would be seeing reviews for films Spies In Disguise, Cats, and Little Women. Well, even if all three were somewhat of a long time in coming, I hope that you all still believed that Little Women would be coming soon after I reviewed the first two movies recently. Either way, after seeing this particular movie on New Year’s Day, as promised, I now present to you all a review of the 2019 adaptation of a classic 1868 novel by Louisa May Alcott. The one and only 2019’s Little Women, directed by Greta Gerwig.
Plot: The story takes place first in 1868, followed by going back to seven years before, in 1861, shortly before the infamous Civil War, and even the years that the war took place. Marmalee March (Laura Dern) raises four daughters: Josephine (or Jo) March (Saoirse Ronan), Margaret (or Meg) March (Emma Watson), Amy March (Florence March), & Elizabeth (or Beth) March (Eliza Scanlen). As the mother and children struggle through being poor, and seeing the mother’s husband and children’s father fight in the Civil War, as well go through a number of other hardships, will they all stand strong in the end?
Now I remember growing up on this story to a degree, as I watched an anime version of this story when I was much younger, as well as saw another version that was live-action that was released in the 1990s, I believe it was. However, because I saw those films a long time ago, and may have been a little too young to fully understand what all was going on with this time period, I may have had a harder time understanding the themes of Little Women. However, after seeing this latest version recently, I believe I can could probably appreciate not only this version, but also the other couple versions that I mentioned before more so than when I was kid. But for now, let’s just stick with talking about 2019’s Little Women, shall we?
If I’m not mistaken, the original novel is most likely better than this movie, or any film version for that matter. Of course, most books are better than a movie version, that’s likely for sure. Regardless, the 2019 adaptation of Little Women is spectacular from beginning to end. I mean considering that when it has come to movies that have been released over the past two to three years, it has seemed to be ones that have been musicals like 2016’s La La Land, 2017’s The Greatest Showman, or even 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns that have seemed to be more well done from beginning to end, or even MOST Disney movies that have been released around this particular holiday period like Thanksgiving or Christmas, or even the summer time. However, shortly before 2019 came to an end, Columbia Pictures released Little Women. Just as Disney films like 2014’s Big Hero 6, or even 2016’s Zootopia finally succeeded in proving to the audience that a Disney film didn’t have to be a musical to be really good, the 2019 live-action Little Women did well in proving that a live-action movie, especially one that has been coming out in recent years, doesn’t have to be a musical, a superhero film, a biopic, or even based on a true story to be as well done as possible. Okay, yes, this was set during a real time period. But come on! This was historical fiction. Anyway, what makes the newest version of Little Women fantastic? Well, to begin, there’s the story. I’m not sure how many films that director Greta Gerwig had directed in the past before this film. Whatever the amount of films directed by her was, however, Gerwig seemed to understand and respect the story of Little Women that, even if she wouldn’t make a direct copy of the novel (which, why not take liberties when adapting to film?), she really seemed to understand the themes and messages that the original book portrayed, and really interweave them into this film. Not only that, but Gerwig seemed to understand that in order to make a good story, you need to know how long the story needs to go: not go too short, or too long, but at least the right amount! With all of that said, there is such an incredible amount of depth to this story. Part of that is with the characters that the story of Little Women revolves around, most notably, Jo, Meg, Amy, & Beth. Each of these characters is filled with life, great personalities, and are developed to the best that they can be. Same can be said about the rest of the cast like with Marmalee March, Father March, Theodore “Laurie” Laurence, and any of the other characters in this movie. In addition to all of this, people will more than likely relate to any one of these characters in one way or another. It will probably be difficult not to. There’s also the score by Alexandre Desplat. His musical score is another element that absolutely knows how to suck the watcher into the story. If Desplat doesn’t get an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score, I’m sure many of us can agree that there might be something wrong with the people who host the Academy Awards. There are also even some really good Biblical messages and themes in this story too, like “not letting the sun go down on your anger,” and forgiveness. Besides recent movies like with A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood, how often have we had messages like that in mainstream media as of nowadays? Just something to think about! Anyway, what also makes this film really special is that as you watch this movie, you may yet feel like you’re walking alongside these characters every step of the way. That is even if they’re in the screen, and we’re in the audience. Wow, and some of us probably found ourselves wishing that we were dancing with the characters singing the catchy and memorable songs of 2017’s The Greatest Showman. Anyway, there are also other really good messages about how God brings good out of different hardships in life, not being jealous of others who got something in life that you yourself wish you had, loving even those who may feel unlovable to you, and other good messages. Finally, there is the acting. I mean this movie has people like Laura Dern, Bob Odenkirk, Timothy Chalamet, and many others who most definitely put their all into this film. Even Emma Watson, considering she might have been decent to good in films like the Harry Potter series, and 2017’s Beauty & The Beast, she really upped her game with her acting talents in 2019’s Little Women.
And that concludes my review for the 2019 adaptation of Little Women. Honestly, not only should this film get nominated, and/or even win an Oscar for Best Original Score, but also have Oscars nominations like Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading or Supporting Role, and probably some other nominations that I’m not mentioning. I will also say this, if companies like Columbia Pictures and Tristar Pictures continue coming out with movies that have Christian themes, and messages, in them, as well as continue to produce really good stories, we may yet see somewhat of a revival in the mainstream movie industry as far as movies with extremely good stories, and things like that go. If some of you still are planning to see a movie that just came out in December of this past year, or even November 2019, definitely put Little Women on your docket! You’ll be amazed by how much enjoyment there is in this film!
Final Grade: A+
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 