There is likely no other novel as beloved by women as the classic Louisa May Alcott entitled "Little Women." Its story of family longing and the affectionate relationship between four sisters and their mother in Massachusetts is spirited and involving and has captivated readers since its inception. This latest movie adaptation does the novel justice - it is a breezy, breathtaking movie that will leave you weeping for joy without coercing you to tears.
The Little Women are the March sisters of Concord, Massachusetts which includes the spirited Jo (Winona Ryder), the aspiring writer of the family who stages her plays in the attic with her sisters as actors. There's also Meg (Trini Alvarado), the oldest daughter of the family who only wants to get married and live happily for love. Claire Danes plays the ailing Beth who loves music, and there's also the bratty, precocious Amy (Kirsten Dunst), the youngest sister of the family. In the film's flashforward to the Marchs' entering adulthood, Samantha Mathis plays the older Amy. The March sisters live with their strong-willed mother, Marmee (Susan Sarandon, as strong-willed as they get), a vigorous feminist and they all await the arrival of Father March (Matthew Walker), a soldier fighting in the Civil War.
The family sticks together and support each other during hard times that include poverty, anguish and death. At one point, Marmee tries to visit her husband but she doesn't have the money. Jo decides to cut her precious hair for money and gives it to her mother to pay for the trip. And as Amy adds, "Jo, you got rid of your one beauty."
"Little Women" isn't just the March's struggling household but also the later years when each of the sisters go their own separate ways. Jo tries to develop a writing career in New York with the help of a kindly professor (Gabriel Byrne); Meg marries a stiff tutor (Eric Stoltz), and Amy ends up marrying a Laurie (Christian Bale), a spoiled rich young man who was the March family's next door neighbor.
What makes any version of "Little Women" work are the actors, and what an elegant, fine cast of them we have here! Winona Ryder is perfectly cast as Jo (proving once again she can period films as she did in "The Age of Innocence"); Kirsten Dunst is appropriately funny as the pint-sized Amy; Trini Alvarado is merely okay as the older sister Meg, but it is really Claire Danes (from TV's "My So-Called Life") as Beth who is the driving emotional force behind the movie - she has some wrenching scenes that are painful to watch.
I do have a couple of gripes such as why is the older Amy the only one who seems to age considering she's played by an older actress? Winona is a terrific actress who is capable of much but she still looks 22 when she's portraying a 42-year-old Jo, same flaw applies to Trini's Meg. This is clearly a case of makeup issues because Winona certainly aged appropriately in "Edward Scissorhands" when she played a grandmother.
"Little Women" is a beautifully vivid and remarkably well-made film that Alcott would have loved. The film not only warms your heart and glows with elegance and style - it conveys the feeling of warmth as if you were reading the book in bed on a cold, wintry night.
