Little Women (2019, Greta Gerwig) (Patreon)

65/100

Is it possible for me to be blown away by yet another adaptation of Alcott's novel, however skillful and thoughtful it may be? Evidently not, though I quite enjoyed Gerwig's impishly postmodern approach to the text, which explicitly reconceives Jo's marriage at book's end as a market-driven compromise. Perfect have-your-cake solution, honoring the source material while acknowledging its historical limitations. I have mixed feelings, on the other hand, about the achronological structure—it feels stunt-y and superfluous for a long time, then starts paying dividends in the back half as temporal juxtapositions grow starker; entirely possible that a second viewing (and there'll surely be one) will reveal subtleties that I missed. Even if so, however, I can't imagine considering this an exceptional work, simply because Little Women is so familiar (I'd read the book, seen the '33 and '94 films; will get to you someday, Mervyn) that there's essentially no possibility of my experiencing the sort of unexpected frisson that signifies greatness in my mind. Closest thing here, apart from the aforementioned negotiation scene, is Pugh's performance, and even that's primarily a matter of my being startled by her range; having only previously seen her at maximum intensity (in Lady Macbeth and Midsommar; whatever small part she played in The Commuter escapes me now), I was unprepared for how fully she'd inhabit Amy's blithe silliness. (My favorite moment is barely even audible: Watching the others prepare for Christmas, an idle Amy tells somebody "You're wasting decorations, and they're not dangling right.") Much to admire, little to criticize, fine work. An umpteenth take on classic lit just isn't the kind of thing that ever truly excites me. You'd need to do something radical, and Gerwig's politely politically radical concept (per Alan Rudolph’s pitch in The Player's opening shot) seems like it's about as far as this touchstone should really be pushed.