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Little Women - Collector's Edition Customer Reviews (19 - 21 of 43 Reviews)

A truly beautiful film
"Little Women" has been a personal favourite of mine for many years now. It is a beautiful reflection on the simple, yet equally important things in life, like love, family and ambition. Featuring wonderful performances from a star-studded cast, beautiful cinematography and tranquil music, "Little Women" has remained one of my favourite films of all time.

Based on the novel by Louisa May Aclott, "Little Women" follows the lives of the four March sisters: Amy (Kirsten Dunst and Samantha Mavis), Beth (Claire Danes), Meg (Trini Alvarado) and the main character Jo (Winona Ryder). Following the absence of their father, who is serving in the war, the March sisters stick together, their bond strong. The story takes us on the individual journeys of each sister, especially Jo, an apsiring writing who wants nothing more to make it in the world dominated by men. Through boy-trouble, peer pressure, and a personal tragedy that rocks the family, Jo and her sisters try their best to stick together as a family. "Little Women" shows us the bittersweet transition from childhood to adulthood.

The performances in the film are inspired. Susan Surrandon stars as the girls' kind and loving mother, and as usual portrays her character beautifully. Winona Ryder gained an Oscar nomination for this film, but the true star of the film, in my opinion is Claire Danes. Her role in the film, although being the least explored of the four girls, is so powerful and evokative, coming from just a 14-year-old Danes. A somewhat younger Kirsten Dunst is flawless as the young Amy March, though I must say that I disaproved of the casting of the older Amy, Samantha Mavis. Her performance was unbelievable, let alone the fact that she did not look anything like her younger self. Despite this the acting was very well done.

The scenery is absolutely stunning! I simply love the images of the heavy snow, the golden Fall, the cosiness of the candle-lit living room. The scenery really draws you into this 18th century world, and gives you a wonderful fuzzy feeling inside.

The music, personally is one of my favourite movie scores ever. Composer Thomas Newman blends tranquil string meleodies, with elements of oboe and a particularly heart-wrenching piano-solo (to name a few highlights), to really bring out the pureness of this movie and its morals. The music adds character and feeling to every scene, as every score does, and its simply gorgeous!

My only reservations for this film would be that its final forty-minutes or so does not evoke that "magicalness" of the rest of the film. However, there are nevertheless some shining scenes, one of which I cry in every single time I watch it! (I shall not say what it is, or I will spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it!)

So in conclusion, the acting, cinematography and music combined make this film one of my favourites. Despite some mismatches in role-casting and editiing, I believe this is a near-flawless film, and certainly one of the best adaptations of a classic novel there's ever been.

JO MARCHES ON
One has to ask, did we really need another version of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel? Well, even if we didn't, we have to give director Gillian Armstrong a big round of applause for her beautifully filmed and acted LITTLE WOMEN. Winona Ryder as Jo was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar and is exquisite in her role as the wanna be writer who chronicles the adventures of her family, particularly her relationship with her three sisters. Susan Sarandon does a nice turn as Marmee, the girls devoted mother, whose husband is off at war and rules the family with a smooth assuredness and grace. Mary Wickes is fine as Aunt March; this late actress who was so memorable in the SISTER ACT films brings a naughty edge to her role. The casting is perfect: Trini Alvarado as Meg, the rather bashful sister who ends up marrying a poor tutor (Eric Stoltz); Claire Dane is the quiet and doomed Beth, who feels "left behind" when her sisters go off on their own; Kirsten Dunst plays Amy as a youngster and her joyful youth and innocence is marvelous; Samantha Mathis does well in taking over Amy's role as a young woman. Christian Bale (our new Batman) does a nice job as Laurie, the young man who woos Jo to no avail, and ultimately ends up with Amy. I think the most disappointing aspect of this rendition is Gabriel Byrne's Professor Baer. It is ironic that his relationship with Ryder is the movie's weakest and although it doesn't totally diminish its quality, I think a different actor might have made it a perfect version. As it stands though, LITTLE WOMEN is an enjoyable movie, filled with the richness of the time and the familial love Alcott so delicately portrayed.

I Wish I Had Rented the DVD Instead of Bought!
This was a decent film adaptation of one of my favorite books Little Women and I don't always require a movie to be 100% like the book but I'm a little disappointed with how much was changed and how some of the characters were using modern slang words that they just woudn't have used in the olden days and I can't believe that they didn't have Wynona Ryder utter the phrase Christopher Columbus! like Katherine Hepburn and June Allison did in their film portrayals as Jo. While I think the main cast acted well some of the supporting actors were miscast. I actually like Eric Stoltz, he was great in Memphis Belle but I think he was miscast as Laurie's teacher friend who married Meg. He just played the character as if he was a mamby pamby weakling! The movie was worth viewing once but I'm not sure I would want to view this movie again and I wish I had rented the DVD instead of bought!

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