Little Women Hot Take No One Asked For:
I feel like the only person who didn’t like Little Women to the degree that I feel like I need to watch it again because I must be missing something.
There were individual elements I liked, preformances especially, and I’m trying to separate actual critique from just “this isn’t the 94 movie!!!” Winona Ryder will always be my Jo, Susan Sarandon my Marmee, and no one can compare to Christian Bale’s Laurie, but that bias aside... I did not like the jumping back and forth in time. Everything felt like it happened too fast - too rushed - it didn’t give characters and storylines a chance to breathe and develop. Because of that Marmee, Aunt March, and especially their father and Mr. Laurence all felt very one note, despite very charming performances. The effect of Beth’s death was utterly lost on me. The time jumping in particular did her a disservice - the arc of her illness was so blurred and she was given so little screen time, which is a real shame because Elisa Scanlen was so wonderful and nuanced that I would spend two hours just watching her as Beth. Florence Pugh as older Amy was particularly strong and I appreciated the time given to her and Laurie’s “present day” relationship. Having said that, I viscerally missed Kirsten Dunst’s young Amy the entire time more than honestly any other ‘94 movie element. (Also feel very alone in the fact that I not only never hated Amy, but have always loved her. 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️) Anyway, that was my knee jerk reaction. I guess I’ll give it another shot because I have not met a single other person who doesn’t absolutely love it.




















