REVIEW: 'Little Women' - Greta Gerwig's relentless humanity

“I want to be great, or nothing.”

It feels like a cop-out to begin a review with ‘where do I begin?’, but that is the one thing that can accurately describe what I feel after walking out of Little Women (2019). Where do I begin when discussing this film? In the umpteenth adaptation of the classic 1868 novel, we once again return to the story of the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth, and their simple life in Massachusetts, USA during the American Civil War. It’s a story we’ve seen many times before in all of its joy and tragedy over the years. We know the drama that unfolds around the characters. This time, however, there is one key difference. One thing that separates this film above all of the others.

The one difference is Greta Gerwig.

During the press tour for the film, Timothée Chalamet and Florence Pugh were asked what separated their film from all of the other adaptations. They had a fantastic response: “Little Women directed by Greta Gerwig.” That’s the best way to put it. An already fantastic novel made better by one of the most talented filmmakers working today.

Greta Gerwig is one of Hollywood’s top stars. The filmmaker began as an actress and has credits on notable films like Isle of Dogs (2018) and Jackie (2016), although is most famous for her acting work on the Noah Baumbach (you can read my review of his latest film Marriage Story (2019) here) projects Greenberg (2010), Frances Ha (2012), and Mistress America (2015), of which the latter two she co-wrote. Gerwig next turner her attention towards directing and created one of the best films of the last decade Lady Bird (2017) (you can read my recent piece on it here).

Gerwig once again proves her natural ability as a filmmaker here. Little Women is as heartfelt as Lady Bird and has the same amount of care and love put into the craft. Gerwig’s strength is not showing off her talents in some flashy display, but rather does so subtly and slowly pulls the viewer into her world and her story, and only at the end do you really realize how incredible the whole thing was.

This is due in no small part to the powerhouse cast assembled for the project. The four March sisters are played by Saoirse Ronan as Jo, Emma Watson as Meg, Florence Pugh as Amy, and Eliza Scanlen as Beth. Supporting the March sisters is Laura Dern as Marmee, the mother of the family holding them all together while her husband serves in the army, the excellent-as-always Timothée Chalamet plays Laurie, a friend of the March family, and the legendary Meryl Streep as their Aunt. Each of these actors is giving it their all here. There is no weak link, no underperformed character. Ronan and Pugh are the highlights here, but even then it’s not by much.

Even the side characters are delightful and fun to watch. Chris Cooper is great as Mr. Lawrence, Laurie’s father, Bob Odenkirk is great in his small role as Mr. March, and Tracy Letts is great in his two scenes as Mr. Dashwood. Every single actor is acting as if their whole career depended upon it - which is a testament to both the cast, but especially to the Gerwig and her direction and screenplay.

Gerwig made some notable adjustments when translating the novel to the screen. The book is divided into two sections: the first titled Little Women and the second titled Good Wives, sometimes these volumes are published separately, although normally are together. Instead of using the book’s structure and following the seven-year-long story chronologically, Gerwig opts to overlap the two volumes, creating two distinct timelines. It comes off as gimmicky at first, but you quickly come to understand that Gerwig has a purpose to it, just like she has a purpose to everything her. She uses the two timelines to only amplify the emotional impact and allows us to create some great contrast between the young life of these characters and the future they will eventually arrive at.

Little Women is dedicated to making you feel every possible emotion all at once. It’s jubilant one moment then shifts completely in the next to heartbreak, sometimes it manages to do both at the same time. Moments of joy for one character are moments of sorrow for another and Gerwig lets you, no, makes you empathize with both people equally.

Gerwig is all about bridging the gap between us and the characters in the 1860s, which really gets at the emotional core of the whole film: its deeply human element. Little Women prides itself on being about regular people. Normal people with hearts and minds and dreams and ambitions, yet completely normal. It draws out our empathy by painting our heroes as people and nothing more, with all of their faults and their achievements fully on display.

And that’s the best part of it. It’s people being people at the heart of it all. It explores all of these characters in great detail and makes us understand and feel compassionate for each one of them in a unique way. It’s rare for a film to do that and then do it so well.

Little Women is a tour-de-force of cinematic excellence. Relentless in honesty and uncompromising in love, it’s one of the most emotionally compelling films of the year in a year full of emotionally compelling films. I dare anyone to watch this and come away having not felt anything at all. It’s next to impossible.

Score: 5/5


Little Women Quick Facts
Written and directed by Greta Gerwig
Starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, and Meryl Streep
Released December 25, 2019
135 minutes