Louisa May Alcott’s much loved novel once again appears on the big screen, in what may just be the finest version of the story. It is adapted and directed by Greta Gerwig, following on from her success with ‘Lady Bird’. The star of that film, Saorise Ronan, returns as the headstrong Jo and gives her usual fantastic performance. In fact, despite the rest of the cast being both starry and hard to fault, she manages to outshine the likes of Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper.
Gerwig presents the tale in a non-linear way, as we follow the sisters through two different time periods simultaneously. Whilst that does lessen the impact of Beth’s illness, for example, it does work well in all other respects. The resolution of Jo’s possible relationship with Friedrich works particularly well.
Despite the story being so well known, Gerwig brings a freshness to it, and just maybe Ronan will get the Oscar she has deserved for a few years now.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10