'Little Women' is boldly told, but at a cost — movie review

Greta Gerwig gives her take on Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women with a narrative twist and an all-star cast

Quick review: While Gerwig’s narrative risks don’t always payoff, Little Women thrives on a timeless story, great performances, and a strong beating heart.

There have been seven film adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women with each one seemingly further modernizing the last take (Be Kind Rewind does a terrific breakdown of the four most notable versions). Of the modern auteurs working today, Greta Gerwig seemed like the perfect person to write and direct our generation’s version. And it’s clear in the film that she has so much admiration and respect for the novel. Like Rian Johnson’s take on Star Wars, that respect manifests itself as a loving subversion of the source material — a subversion that only someone with a deeper understanding of it could pull off successfully. And Gerwig almost nails it.

Retelling an old classic

So much of the brillian…