Little Women

Did not find it to be a modernize version of LMAs novel at all!!!

Oh my gosh. I thought this movie would never end. I just could not make myself care about any of the characters in this movie except maybe the father of the girls. The character Jo was so irritating that I don't see how she could have ever made a friend, and certainly not with the professor. I would not want to spend more than five minutes with her. The movie's moving from past to present was hard to follow because with the exception of one character, the actors always looked the same age. I couldn't find any of the romantic match-ups believable, nor could I find the relationships among the sisters as touching as I was supposed to. Nothing about the story, the characters, or the relationships seemed authentic.

Perfectly enjoyable modern take on Little Women. I really liked the choices made to modernize the story. Some examples: Beth dying of cancer and Jo shaving her head for solidarity. Professor Bhaer being Jo's supportive(and very attractive) but critical professor at college. Father home from Iraq. I loved his relationship with his wife (the always appealing and talented Lea Thompson) and his girls. Straitlaced Meg going a little crazy and getting drunk and making out (briefly) at a party. Jo being an aspiring fantasy YA writer. Devotees of the original Little Woman will immediately be able to compare these with similar plot points in the original. The two thing that bothered me was A) the casting of Laurie. The actor did not look the part, though I did love the way they updated the character. The major problem (B) was the character of Jo. She was spoiled, arrogant, petulant, and immature throughout. She was a real drama queen and made even more irritating by the hammy acting on the part of the actress. She was also rather stupid. Had the character been better written, i would have given this a 7 or 8.

Well this is not the best version of Little Women ever put on the big screen but it is not as bad as some of the reviews are saying either. It is pretty basic and "contrived" as someone said but it is also a family movie and isn't trying to be very deep. I thought the acting was ok and the story was fine, I mean it is based on the classic. At the least I thought it was a nice idea at trying to modernize the old story. It just could have been better and more engaging.

Jo is not very likable and in fact is downright mean most of the time during this movie. This could have been so much better if the writers had made Jo more endearing instead of rude and nasty. Yes, in Little Women Jo is headstrong and independent but she's never unpleasant and in this movie that's exactly what she is - unpleasant. The rest of the film is just so-so with no real depth. It's certainly not a film one will recall or watch more than once.