Review: Little Women
Friday, December 27, 2019 at 2:00PM By Lynn Lee
Did we need another one?
That question hangs over any movie based on a novel that’s already been adapted multiple times – even moreso if there’s a previous adaptation that’s particularly beloved. It may not, however, be the right question. As potential movie material, perhaps great books should be treated more like great plays are for the stage, in the sense that if the work has enduring appeal, every new era deserves its own adaptation. So perhaps the better question is whether this adaptation speaks to us, the viewers of today?
As applied to Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, the answer is yes…with a few caveats. Full disclosure: I came to the movie as someone who read Louisa May Alcott’s coming-of-age classic so many times that my copy literally fell apart at the seams, and my devotion to Gillian Armstrong’s near-perfect 1994 adaptation starring Winona Ryder (which you should absolutely see if you haven’t) is a matter of TFE record .
While Armstrong’s version remains my favorite, I found a lot to like and admire about Gerwig’s...
