LITTLE WOMEN Wins Big-All Star Cast-Modern Takes

Louisa May Alcott may very well be rolling in her grave with joy at Greta Gerwig's brilliant adaptation of her literary legacy "Little Women."  Gerwig received an Acad. Award nom. for directing and writing Lady Bird ('18) a contemporary coming of age story.  Taking on Alcott's "Little Women", Gerwig takes artistic license with the Alcott's coming of age story ensconced in the Civil War era. This modern appropriation skirts around the Civil War but promenades staunchly on the social constraints of the epoch when women were subjugated to marriage & motherhood.  The March household is comprised of women. The matriarch played by the incomparable Laura Dern, is left to manage the household with 4 daughters while her husband is enlisted as a chaplain for the Union army.  Our heroine, the fiercely independent Jo, a novelist played by Saoirse Ronan, a shoe-in for an Oscar nom.  Gerwig assembled Ronan along with Timothee Chalamet as Laurie and Tracy Letts as the chauvinistic publisher whom she directed in "Lady Bird."  Jo is not the sole sister to shine in her role.  Older sister Meg (Emma Watson), and younger sisters Amy (Florence Pugh) & Beth (Eliza Scanlen) are all magnificent, multi-dimensional & formidable characters.  Chris Cooper plays their gracious, benefactor and Meryl Streep the wealthy, crochety aunt who tries to impress on her wards marriage is strictly an economic proposition and crucial her nieces marry into money.  The film is structured by Joe's flashbacks to her enchanting childhood while dealing as a formidable writer/businesswoman when selling her novel (not the copyrights) for publication.  Jo's charmed reminiscients in a household with 3 sisters is filled with omniscient sisterhood joys and squabbles. "Little Women" is richly endowed with passions, remorse and acts of human kindness that bring this heartfelt film to life.  The March sisters' desires, jealousies, rivalries and mischievous behaviors are all illuminated with zealous & wanton abandon that it's impossible not to feel ingratiated with each character and imbedded into their bonds with one another.  The modern day twists to Alcott's story offers a conspiratorial wink to convention of the novel's era with a lighthearted take on today's romantic comedies.  The sumptuous cinematography glows in warm candlelight, horse drawn carriages and debutante balls.  Gerwig's film is a lively and smart protestation that women were merely  ornaments of society but possessed power over who they chose to love and to pursue that which they loved.  "Life is too short to be angry with your sisters" say Mrs. March.  One of the clever, artistic tidbits that imbue "Little Women" to win your hearts and Oscar votes.