Little Women                    4 ½ stars

Greta Gerwig, the writer/director behind Lady Bird brings us her take on Louisa May Alcott’s classic Civil War era novel Little Women.  In her version, the tale of the four March sisters is blended with Alcott’s struggle to be a successful author placing older sister Jo, (played by Saoirse Ronan) as the creative writer of Little Women.  Another difference from earlier movies, of which there may be as many as seven, she puts the timelines in parallel showing us the older siblings trials alongside scenes of the girls living together in their family home with their mother (a good natured Laura Dern).  And it is done using the same actors in both settings where previous versions have used younger actors to portray the teenage sisters.  They may not all look like teenagers, but I thought the approach worked well especially with how active and energetic the actors are.  The movie shares the aspect of the earlier films that shows how dependent women were on finding a good husband in order to succeed in life.  Of special note is the role of Amy (Florence Pugh) as Gerwig makes it clear that she is the obstinate and ambitious one, as she is seen maturing the most of the sisters and the one who ends up with the boy next door, Laurie played by Timothee Chalamet.  The film is rather long but I find I didn’t really notice it all that much as the scenes seem to fly by at a fast pace keeping us engaged the whole time.  Gerwig is said to have read the book Little Women multiple times growing up and it is clear that she gave it her best effort as a writer/director.  Be sure you see it.  It is bound to earn a few Academy Award nominations.