Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Theater review. Possible spoilers. According to IMDb there are more than 20 versions of Louisa May Alcott’s 2 volume tale, not including various TV series adaptations. Of all those I’ve seen exactly one, the 1994 version starring very young cast including Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes, Christian Bale and others. I don’t remember much about it beyond the basic story. Nor have I read the books. So this is somewhat new territory for me. As a man in a theater full of women, young and old, I was quickly mesmerized at first by the wonderful pictures of the Massachusetts country side to the sets and costume, then by the actors and the wonderful direction by Gretta Gerwig. It is Gerwig’s direction and adapted screenplay that surely motivates the excellent award-worthy cast including Laura Dern as Marmee, the mother of the March family, Meryl Streep as Aunt March, Chris Cooper as wealthy neighbor Mr. Laurence and Tracy Letts as New York City book publisher, Mr. Dashwood. All supporting roles and all worthy of recognition. The film opens with a shot a woman’s back sitting across the desk of Dashwood. The woman is making a pitch for him to buy her short story. As the camera swings around we see that is Jo March (Saoise Ronan), with ink-stained fingers. The publisher offers her $20 but wants her to shorten it and offer an ending that has the female subject of the story either marry or be dead at the end. Jo agrees and is now a professional writer. What Gerwig has also done is create an alter ego for LM Alcott herself and offer what will be a perfect bookend to this scene some 2-hours later. The scene then dissolves to an earlier time back in Massachusetts. The Civil War is coming to an end. Marmee and housekeeper Hannah (Jayne Houdyshell) manage the home that includes 4 rambunctious sisters. The father (Bob Odenkirk) is a medical doctor away in Washington, D. C. attending to the wounded soldiers returning home. Of the sisters Meg (Emma Watson) is the oldest, followed by Jo, Amy (Florence Pugh, “Midsommar”) and Beth (Eliza Scanlen, HBO’s “Sharp Objects”). Gerwig, who essentially meshes LMA’s volume 1 which features the little women as girls with volume 2 which shows them as adults by swinging back in forth in time. It can be a bit disorienting at first as there are no regular intertitles to alert you. So pay attention! This puts the emphasis on the actors and costume designers to distinguish the transitions. The actors do a great job showing the differences between a 20-something adult and a teenager. This is perhaps most noticeable in Pugh as Amy. Her personality as a fun-loving wannabe artist changes dramatically as a more serious and aware adult. Each of the 4 actresses get their moments. Young Beth has a great scene with Mr. Lawrence after he gives her a piano. Amy in a scene with Jo tells her in a delicate but firm discussion that she wants to be married and have children. And that is just as important to her as Jo’s desire to be free, both from a supposed heavy handed husband and her desire to write. Jo and Amy are more alike than not. After a disagreement about attending a local play, Amy hurts Jo in an unforgiveable way. The scene plays out in a heartfelt performance by both. But it is Ronan’s Jo that is the cornerstone of the story. And wow is she good. As in, perhaps the best actress of her generation. She draws you in. Jo is at times irreverent but it is more moxie than anything. She doesn’t want to rely on anyone. She wants to be a success with her words and will let nothing get in the way. That includes Mr. Lawrence’s flirty grandson, Theodore ‘Laurie’ Laurence (Timothee Chalamet, who starred with Ronan in Gerwig’s first film, “Lady Bird). Jo is the only one who calls him Teddy. Chalamet is also excellent as he goes from a fun loving companion for Jo to a more serious man looking for love with another sister. The film is funny, sad and dramatic and somehow Gerwig has also created a modern slant to this early version of feminism. It is a wonderful piece of filmmaking and one of my favorite films of the year. Highly recommended.