I will be giving Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” another shot on December 2nd, but, for the time being, I am not in agreement with the critical consensus building up around it. A 90 score on Metacritic (based on 21 reviews) seems way too generous for my tastes. These reviews do, however, significantly raise its chances of garnering a Best Picture nomination.
Upon first viewing, “Little Women” is somewhat successful in its passionate and energetic re-telling of Alcott’s novel. You can’t help but respect it.
A major issue I had was its first half being a bit of a mess — it takes 70 or so minutes to really get you going and involved in its story. The whole thing is oddly structured in a distracting non-linear fashion. You get all sorts of timelines intertwined to the point of ad nauseum. That’s part of the reason why I’m abstaining from fully reviewing ” Little Women” until I get to see it again next week. I’m sure the film will play perfectly fine with fans of the novel and of all the actors involved, including Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet and Emma Watson. With all that being said, I’m not sure I count as being a part of the primary demographic for this film.
After filming wraps on "Non Compos Mentis," which shoots next month, Schrader plans to start production on his "drug movie," "The Doors of Perception," in January.