How god awful is Little Women (2019)?

[MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry]

I’m watching it today for the first time having loved little women growing up and seen the 90’s version. It’s just so bad!! and the casting of Laurie! He’s terrible.

Oh , sorry, scrap that. I was talking about Emily Watson, who played the mum.

"Why do you think she’s only known exceptional wealth and privilege from a young age?" - because she has! Harry Potter took over her life when she was very young and also gave her a world of opportunities.

I'm astounded that anyone saw anything other than wooden awfulness but glad that you enjoyed it, wish I could too! And yes, Emily Watson is great, no argument there.

@MirthlessChuckle

"Why do you think she’s only known exceptional wealth and privilege from a young age?" - because she has! Harry Potter took over her life when she was very young and also gave her a world of opportunities.

I'm astounded that anyone saw anything other than wooden awfulness but glad that you enjoyed it, wish I could too! And yes, Emily Watson is great, no argument there.

I was referring to Emily Watson, who played the mum in the 2017 version. Not Emma Watson from HP. I was confused by the word “mum” in your post.

I absolutely loved it, it’s one of my rare 10/10 films and I watch a lot of films.

But young women do come in all shapes and sizes and there is often a varying range of appearances for each age group. By these ages you would not necessarily expect the youngest to be the smallest as natural body shape takes over. They obviously went for the strongest cast over trying to make them look related. Also this was a different time, when there was no such thing as a teenager and girls were viewed as children for much longer (then marriage material, in the blink of an eye). Amy could well have had a boarding school type experience with limes one year and be brought out shortly afterwards. Emma W is much thinner than the actresses who played Amy and Beth so she might naturally look less buxom but this doesn't mean she looked like a child.

@MirthlessChuckle

As well as her typical on-screen charisma of a Lego brick, I felt like Emma Watson just didn't look like she cared.

She didn't look or feel in any way like a slightly hard-done-by working wife and mum. The kids dash up for a hug and she looks like a bored, slightly hungover aunt.

I don't know if it's just that she's a terrible actress or if it's because she doesn't have the life experience to be able to convey certain characters as she's only known exceptional wealth and privilege from a young age.

Either way, how out of all the actresses in the world did she get cast?

Well people will go and watch her. Quite often they’d rather have a famous actor than a very good one.

I’m guilty of it myself - if I see an advert featuring an actor I’ve enjoyed in other movies I might say ‘oh x is in it. It didn’t look my sort of thing but I do like everything they’ve been in so I’ll probably like it. Maybe I’ll go and see it anyway.’

Especially younger people who are particularly fans of one thing will support actors they like by seeing movies even if the movie is outside of their genre. I’m pretty sure a lot of people seeing ‘Dune’ weren’t really into it and wouldn’t have bothered if not for Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya. That’s not a bad thing at all but certain names do draw a bigger crowd.

Although I’m not too bothered by Emma Watson’s performance - as I remember it Meg is actually a pretty ‘blah’ character in the books as well, she really does very little except sit around, have a glass of champagne at a party, then marry John and cry because she spent all their money on some dress material.

The 1994 version is on film4 now if anyone is interested!

I actually quite liked Meg in the book and felt quite sad when she realised what married life was like and how she basically worked all day and had to submit to her husband (who I liked a lot less in the book!) I’d have liked to have seen a touch more of her at home with kids.

I think it’s implied in the book that it’s a good thing that she learns to submit to her husband though. She’s called a ‘silly little woman’ a few times, once over her coddling of her little boy and it’s implied that she’s in the wrong for not being waiting with a big smile and a good meal when he shows up unexpectedly with a dinner guest etc.

I do like the book but I think it has to be taken as very ‘in its time.’ When I read it with dd I had to stop a few times and talk about why they do xyz since the book is so preachy.

I think the movie actually improves on this compared to the books though - it drops the pretence that Amy and Laurie ‘suddenly’ fall in love etc and leans into the idea that Amy is making a sensible life decision rather than it just ‘happening.’

My only real issue with it, which did totally ruin it tbh, was that there was just too much to fit into a film. It felt like they fit the plot points in but at the expense of me actually getting to know and care about the characters. I've never read the book but I don't think it's well suited for one film. Too much to cram in to do it well, a miniseries would be better.

Isn't there a thing where she can't stop her son playing up in the evenings, and John makes her do the cry it out method?

He's such a controlling arse. I wonder if that's why she killed him off, a subtle message about she felt about the patronising husbands

The book has many tedious elements, eg the moralistic preaching, emphasis on personal improvement, Meg’s motherhood ‘journey’, Marmee’s perfection.

Book Amy does clearly love Laurie from a v young age! And it plays into her jealousy of her older siblings.

SirSamuelVimes think winona ryder would definitely have been considered beautiful in the time period of the book! Jo is not meant to be conventionally beautiful at all.

Agree that Meryl Streep was great as Aunt March.

Just finished it. Hated it. Wort adaptation of it ever.

@MirthlessChuckle

Isn't there a thing where she can't stop her son playing up in the evenings, and John makes her do the cry it out method?

He's such a controlling arse. I wonder if that's why she killed him off, a subtle message about she felt about the patronising husbands

Yes basically the boy always asks for a lump of sugar etc comes back down for more cuddles, a drink or whatever, and Meg is too stupid to know how to deal with the child she presumably keeps alive all day while her husband is not there so he has to step in,

The girl child is praised for being always caring and looking after her brother and willing to let him do whatever he wants/be the Guinea pig for his experiments and so on. A perfect little woman.

But yeah it has lots of lovely parts and it’s nice to have a book based around sisters but it is tedious in its constant sermons of how to behave. Ooohhh Jo wrote trashy stories! Quick Professor tell her off! Meg wore a party dress and drank a bit of bubbly - get in there Laurie and get her told! Never mind that you party constantly.

Please don't let this film put you off seeing other films starring in or directed by Greta Gerwig. Loved 20th Century Women and Lady Bird.

Lady Bird is fantastic.

I watched it a few weeks ago. I vaguely knew the story arc which was helpful otherwise I wouldn't have known WTF was going on with all the back and forth .

I tried to watch it earlier and only got about 30 minutes in, I found it dull, which is almost impressive given its one of my favourite books.

I enjoyed this version and liked the casting, apart from Laurie.

The book is so grounded in its time. Women, without much money, in domesticity and waiting for things to happen, for men to return, for invitations, for a rich relative to favour them, for love.

Jo takes some control, and Amy too, but essentially they're very much of their time. At the essence is the complex relationship between sisters and I thought that was well captured. And I like Amy's very practical take on things, it helps explain what might otherwise be a hard decision for a modern audience to understand.

I went to see it in the cinema and hated it. I came on here at the time looking for a thread to see if others felt the same ... but everybody seemed to love it. The friend I went to see it with loved it and we're usually of a like mind about films/books/dramas. I just couldn't believe how bad it was.

Has anyone mentioned the Uggs yet? The scene where they're walking through the snow, and one of them is wearing some very un-19th century Uggs. It caused much outrage in the historical costuming community .

@RuleOfCat

Has anyone mentioned the Uggs yet? The scene where they're walking through the snow, and one of them is wearing some very un-19th century Uggs. It caused much outrage in the historical costuming community .

I was very bothered by the half up half down hair, so I've clearly been watching far too many historical fashion videos 🙈