I never got the love Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of the famous novel, the umpteenth film version. I’ll be attending a 35mm screening of the film this evening, which I haven’t seen since I caught a screening of it during a snowy Boston evening back in November of 2019. If you remember, a large number of people were outraged when Gerwig was snubbed by the Oscars, Golden Globes as well as DGA. The film’s defenders were implying that “Little Women” was not nominated by these voting bodies because of some kind of gender bias. Hogwash. I remember the headlines very well. Vanity Fair writer Anthony Breznican posted a piece titled “Little Women Has a Little Man Problem,” and, less than a week after that, former New York Times film critic Janet Maslin tweeted that “the Little Women problem with men is very real.” The New York Times piece on this same subject was snidely titled “Men Are Dismissing Little Women — What a Surprise.” Obviously, a discourse was being created to push “Little Women” and its Oscar chances — these writers were consciously trying to guilt-shame male voters into watching and appreciating Gerwig’s film. Of course, this attempt backfired on them because voters just don’t like being told what to like. At the very least, “Little Women” didn’t seem to have a “man problem” with male film critics, as they unanimously raved about Gerwig’s movie. It was the 8th most mentioned movie in film critics’ top ten lists for 2019. It also was a more-than-decent box-office success. Gerwig‘s “Little Women” ran on the notion that a fresh and insightful adaptation could still be made of Louise May Alcott’s classic novel. After all, this was the fourth major Hollywood adaptation of Alcott’s beloved story. The end result, to my eyes at least, was somewhere between decent, passable and not that bad. You can’t help but respect Gerwig’s intentions, not to mention the stunning costume and set design, as well as some of the performances, but the creative decisions behind this latest adaptation of “Little Women” felt misguided and too overtly obvious. Again, I was in the minority. Throughout its ambitious 134-minute runtime, you could sense the faux self-satisfaction oozing from Gerwig and her on-screen performers. It didn’t help that Gerwig, admirably so, decided to shake up Alcott’s dry novel by telling her story in non-linear flashback mode. This sort of jigsaw narrative didn’t stop the fact that told in straight fashion or otherwise, “Little Women” was still a very conventional story at heart. I do hear the film plays better on repeat viewing. You can bet I’ll be reporting if my mind has changed after this evening’s screening. Contribute Hire me
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