In its review of Greta Gerwig’s film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women,” The Economist blames a disjointed narrative format and stilted performances by its all-star cast for a disappointing production.
“Ms Gerwig has worked hard to bring a book she clearly loves up-to-date, and yet her efforts result in a peculiar mish-mash that is both obvious and confusing and—the worst sin for a film like this—emotionally empty.
“The film begins with Jo attempting to sell her writing to a New York publisher (like Alcott herself, Jo writes sensational tales which she publishes anonymously). This is the first of the film’s two conceits which pull it away from the original text. Ms Gerwig starts with the March sisters as, essentially, grown women. She also makes the story of Alcott’s publication of the novel a part of the film itself.
“‘Little Women’ thus flashes back and forth in time over the course of its two hours. This is fine if the viewer knows the novel well, and perhaps Ms Gerwig assumes that everyone who sees the movie will be a devotee. Your reviewer’s companion, however, was coming to the tale cold, and never managed to get a handle on who anybody really was or when anything was actually happening.”
