Little Women (2019) - Gerwig and a diamond cast hit the loveliest notes

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+ Best Movie of the Year

+ Best Adaptation of the Year + Best American Movie of the Year + Best Big Hit Movie of the Year + Best Ensemble of the Year: Eliza Scanlen, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, Louis Garrel, Chris Cooper + Best Massachusetts Movie of the Year + Best Melodrama of the Year + Best On-Screen Couple of the Year: Saoirse Ronan & Timothée Chalamet + Shooting Star Actress of the Year: Florence Pugh 

The four beautiful, fresh-faced young women stars of Greta Gerwig's Little Women shine bright on this delicate, well-composed poster for the film

We follow the four March sisters Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth, as they develop from youths to women in 1860s Massachusetts.

Little Women is written and directed by Californian master filmmaker Greta Gerwig (Nights and Weekends (2008)), whose 3rd film it is, as well as the high point in her career so far. It is the 7th adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's (Under the Lilacs (1878)) same-titled 1868 autobiographical novel.
The film is a delightful wonder, a sumptuous production with a deliciously flowing and pristine score by Alexandre Desplat (Suffragette (2015)). The costumes are masterful and full of bold colors, which fit the youthful, hopeful spirits of the characters perfectly.
The ensemble is likely the year's most splendid, and each breathe wonderful life into Alcott's rich story:
As the sisters, we have newcomers Eliza Scanlen (Sharp Objects (2018, miniseries)) and Florence Pugh (Malevolent (2018)), who is wonderful as Amy, and major stars Emma Watson (My Week with Marilyn (2011)) and Saoirse Ronan (Lost River (2014)). Timothée Chalamet (One and Two (2015)) is the vibrant, charming Laurie, the delectable neighbor who enthralls more than one March sister, and both Ronan and Chalamet are canonically good and as sweet as can be. This also seems like it simply must be the last time that these two can seem like a 16 year-old Waif and Adonis, (he is 24 now, she 25); the brilliant, innocent gleam must naturally come to an end for them, and it may come around now so suck them in as the chalices of youth that they still very much are here. Completing the cast are a solid group of proven actor greats; Meryl Streep (Dark Matter (2007)), Laura Dern (Wilson (2017)), Tracy Letts (Homeland (2013-14)), - very satisfying as Jo's direct New York editor, - Bob Odenkirk (Long Shot (2019)), Louis Garrel (Two Friends/Les Deux Amis (2015)) - another young hot male actor, - and finally Chris Cooper (The Company Men (2010)), who is great as Mr. Laurence.
Little Women is a very positive and sweet film and story. At times it may come close to feeling too lovely, (strange thing, hu), but then you remember that this is the story of four young sisters, who inhabit a very lovely world, not least because of the firm, positive values they get with them from home, - and it is, after all, very nice to inhabit a lovelier world for a couple of hours than the one you have for the surrounding part of your life, when it is so well-made and deeply moving as Little Women is. 

Gerwig has structured the story ingeniously with advanced chronology, always keeping us close to its flame. She has also directed the film so that it is a great drama that you realize underway is a melodrama, and which comes to its end in a staggeringly wonderful, romantic climax, which at the same time plays with the audience's expectations in an intelligent way, underlining the film's themes of female independence and artistry in a patriarchal society. If you know the story, you'll know where it goes, but Gerwig makes Little Women as toweringly universal, pregnant with meaning and feeling above all that you'll want to absolutely catch this treasure in a cinema.

Related posts:

Greta Gerwig: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Lady Bird (2017) - Gerwig's personal Sacramento youth ode is terrific   
Wiener-Dog (2016) - Solondz's incisive and funny dog saga dramedy (co-star)
Frances Ha (2012) or, Growing Older Ain't Easy (co-writer/star)
To Rome With Love (2012) - Woody Allen's slightest film to date (co-star)  
Arthur (2011) - Frenzied, colossal egotrip remake, irredeemable DOA (supporting actor) Greenberg (2010) - Baumbach's uniquely downbeat LA-romance depressant (supporting actor)
The House of the Devil (2009) - West's energetic, scary throwback period horror (co-star)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 40 mil. $
Box office: 133.6 mil. $ and counting
= Box office success (returned 3.34 times its cost)
[Little Women premiered 7 December (New York) and runs 135 minutes. Sarah Polley was in talks to make the film, before Gerwig was hired. It is the 7th adaptation of the novel. Emma Stone dropped out months prior to shooting and was replaced by Watson. Shooting took place in Massachusetts, including Boston, from October - December 2018. As on Gerwig's previous film, Lady Bird, she banned cellphones from the set. The film opened #4, behind holdover hits Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Jumanji: The Next Level and Frozen II, to a 16.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another week in the top 5 (#3) and has grossed 86.7 mil. $ (64.9 % of the total gross). The film has 18 more markets announced to open in the coming months, including Germany, South Korea, China and Japan. Its final gross may well grow way past 150 mil. $, and could even cross 200 mil. $. It is nominated for 6 Oscars: Best Picture, Actress (Ronan), Supporting Actress (Pugh), Adapted Screenplay, Costumes and Score. It was nominated for 2 Golden Globes, is nominated for 5 BAFTAs and won an AFI award, among many other honors. IMDb's users have voted it in at #238 on the site's Top 250, sitting between Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) and Before Sunset (2004). Gerwig is announced to next head the long-in-gestation Barbie movie. Ronan returns in The French Dispatch (2020); Watson does not have her next acting gig announced yet; Pugh returns in Black Widow (2020), and Scanlen in The Devil All the Time (2020). Little Women is certified fresh at 95 % with a 8.59/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Little Women?

The Lovely Bones (2009) - Despite qualities, Jackson's metaphysical crime drama is a wasteful jumble

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Saoirse Ronan in an ugly getup finds a man lurking by the field on this creepy poster for Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones

Susie is a 14 year-old girl, who gets murdered by a neighbor in an underground cave. She then finds herself in a world between Earth and Heaven, as the search for her killer takes place in her native Kentucky.

The Lovely Bones is written by Fran Walsh (The Frighteners (1996)), Philippa Boyens (King Kong (2005)) and New-Zealander master co-writer/co-producer/director Peter Jackson (Dead Alive/Braindead (1992)), adapting Alice Sebold's (Lucky (1999)) same-titled 2002 novel.
The film has some grand CGI scenes of the 'between-world' that Susie finds herself in, which are incredibly handsome, and there are also suspenseful scenes, as well as Susan Sarandon (Robot & Frank (2012)) and Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos (1999-07)) both giving ravishing performances.
But The Lovely Bones just isn't very profound in my opinion, and it's hard to tell if Jackson actually had ambitions beyond making something handsome here. Sebold's novel is likely difficult material to adapt, and Jackson just isn't enough of a serious-minded dramatic director to succeed with it. It obviously also weighs down that a young Saoirse Ronan (I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007)) is cloyingly miscast in the lead part as Susie.

Related posts:

Peter Jackson: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - Jackson's megalomania gives birth to the first third of an enormous fantasy whopper
The Frighteners (1996) - FX-driven ghost comedy madness
Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Braindead/Dead Alive (1992) - Jackson's best film ever is a gore classic!   
Bad Taste (1987) or, Peter Jackson's Hungry Aliens in New Zealand

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 65 mil. $
Box office: 93.6 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.44 times the cost)
[The Lovely Bones premiered 24 November (the UK) and runs 135 minutes. The rights for Sebold's novel were already sold, before it was finished. Scottish master filmmaker Lynne Ramsay was in talks to direct for a long time but was eventually detached for straying too far from the novel. Hot off his Lord of the Rings (2001; 02; 03) success, major studios were excited to back the huge-budgeted, commercially dubious, metaphysical crime drama. Shooting took place in Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, and in Wellington, New Zealand from October 2007 - ?. SPOILER Jackson reshot the killer's death scene, after test screenings indicated that audiences wanted to see him suffer a lot more. According to LA Times an additional colossal 85 mil. $ were spent on the global marketing and distribution of the film, making its flop much more costly. The film opened #30 to a 116k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #3, behind holdover hit Avatar and newcomer The Book of Eli, and in 2,638 cinemas and grossed 44.1 mil. $ (47.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 9.3 mil. $ (9.9 %) and Japan with 6.8 mil. $ (7.3 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 1.5/4 star review, translating to two notches harder than this one. It was nominated for an Oscar: Best Supporting Actor (Stanley Tucci (Big Night (1996))), lost to Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, 2 BAFTAs and many other honors. Jackson returned with Universal ride short King Kong 360 3-D (2010) and theatrically with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012). Mark Wahlberg (The Gambler (2014)) returned in Date Night (2010), Rachel Weisz (Chain Reaction (1996)) in The Whistleblower (2010) and Ronan with a voice performance in The Secret World of Arrietty/Kari-Qurashi no Arietti (2010) and in the flesh in The Way Back (2010). The Lovely Bones is rotten at 32 % with a 5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Lovely Bones?

Lady Bird (2017) - Gerwig's personal Sacramento youth ode is terrific

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+ Best Shooting Star Actor of the Year: Timothée Chalamet + Best Autobiographical Movie of the Year + Best California Movie of the Year

Saoirse Ronan in the Catholic high school her character attends in Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird on its unusually colorline-finished poster

Sacramento, California, 2002: Christina "Lady Bird" is a young woman at the local Catholic high school. She and her mother are close but have many fights, and especially over Lady Bird's wish to leave California for an East Coast university, which her family cannot afford.

Lady Bird is the second film for great Sacramento native writer-director Greta Gerwig (Mistress America (2015)), who debuted as a filmmaker with the little-known drama-romance Nights and Weekends (2008). She is best known as an actress in films such as Greenberg (2010), Frances Ha (2012) and Mistress America, all by her boyfriend, the also great filmmaker Noah Baumbach.
The story here is semi-autobiographical. It is a sensitive and very funny coming-of-age mother-daughter story that is tightly connected to its location Sacramento, which is presented with a mix of scathing disdain and genuine fondness.
Having followed Gerwig through her performances for years, it is such a great fortune to be able to see her making this film, which reveals that she has a sharp hand behind the camera as well in front of it.
Saoirse Ronan (The Way Back (2010)) cements her position as the most exciting young actress today: Both her and Lucas Hedges (Kill the Messenger (2014)), who plays her very sweet boyfriend in the movie for a while, have the physiques and faces that seem credible in roles that are some years younger than what they really are. Timothée Chalamet (Hot Summer Nights (2017)), another hot ticket right now, also plays in Lady Bird, SPOILER portraying the pretentious douche, who takes her virginity in a sex scene that, even compared to all the many often incredibly short sex scenes that have been made due to prematurely climaxing men, is extremely short.
The film also has terrific grownup performances from Lois Smith (The Comedian (2016)) in a small role as a nun who takes Lady Bird's identity-probing transgressions calmly; from Tracy Letts (Chicago Cab (1997)) as her father, who is a good father despite getting fired and feeling shame over his feeling redundant in the modern workplace; and especially from Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne (1988-18)), who as Lady Bird's to-the-point mother Marion reminded me of my own mother and our dynamic. Marion lets her daughter have a piece of her mind, her straight opinions, even when they could have waited or been left out entirely, but she does so out of a sincere affection, and Metcalf's performance is never more painfully astute than in a scene towards the end, when she realizes in her car that she was too stern and unforgiving towards Lady Bird's move to the East.
Lady Bird's narrative structure is not a roller-coaster-like voyage; it is relatively flat, a realistic portrayal of a year in the life of a young woman, and Gerwig seems to prioritize truthfulness to her experience of growing up, (she keeps at least one element, (a change of drama teacher), which isn't directly central to the storytelling.) Her personal and highly relatable experience comes to vivid, charming, humorous life in this truly delightful movie.

Related posts:

Greta Gerwig: 2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Wiener-Dog (2016) - Solondz's incisive and funny dog saga dramedy (co-star)
Frances Ha (2012) or, Growing Older Ain't Easy (co-writer/star)
To Rome With Love (2012) - Woody Allen's slightest film to date (co-star)
Arthur (2011) - Frenzied, colossal egotrip remake, irredeemable DOA (supporting actor)
Greenberg (2010) - Baumbach's uniquely downbeat LA-romance depressant (supporting actor)
The House of the Devil (2009) - West's energetic, scary throwback period horror (co-star)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 10 mil. $
Box office: 75.6 mil. $ and counting
= Huge hit
[Lady Bird premiered 1 September (Colorado's Telluride Film Festival) and runs 93 minutes. Gerwig reportedly spent years writing the film, which at one point was over 350 pages long with the title Mothers and Daughters. Gerwig cast Ronan first, after meeting her at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015. Shooting ran from August 2016 - ? in California, including Sacramento and Los Angeles, and in New York. The film opened #26 in 4 theaters to a hefty 364k $ first weekend in North America, (the second best per theater average of 2017 there) and widened to peak at #8 and in 1,557 theaters (different weeks), grossing 48.9 mil. $ (64.7 % of the total gross to date). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets have been the UK with 7.5 mil. $ (9.9 %) and Australia with 3.3 mil. $ (4.4 %). The film has one scheduled market yet to open in: Japan on 1 June. It was nominated for 5 Oscars:Best Picture - lost to the inferior The Shape of Water, Best Actress (Ronan) - lost to Frances McDormand in great Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Best Supporting Actress (Metcalf) - lost to Allison Janney in I, Tonya, Best Director - lost to Guillermo del Toro for Shape of Water and Best Original Screenplay - lost to Jordan Peele for great Get Out. The film won 2/4 Golden Globe noms, was nominated for 3 BAFTAs, won an AFI award, 1/4 Independent Spirit award nominations, 3 National Board of Review awards and many other honors. Gerwig has no film of her own set up yet, but has said that she would like to make "a quartet of Sacramento films." She returned with a voice performance in Isle of Dogs (2018) and a physical performance in Bergman Island (2019). Ronan returned in On Chesil Beach (2017). Lady Bird is certified fresh at 99 % with an 8.7 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Lady Bird?

Brooklyn (2015) - Ronan captivates in Crowley's exquisite, soaring period romance drama masterpiece

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+ 3nd Best Movie of the Year
+ Most Deserved Hit of the Year 
+ Best Irish Movie of the Year  
+ Best Period Movie of the Year 
+ Screen Couple of the Year: Saoirse Ronan & Emory Cohen

Saoirse Ronan encapsulates the formidable power of John Crowley's Brooklyn in her look on this poster

In 1951, a young Irishwoman takes the big decision of moving to the US, where she makes a life for herself and falls in love, until an event in her family drives her back home again.

Don't judge Brooklyn out based on the possibly a bit unassuming quality of its poster and trailer; the film is pure gold!
Saoirse Ronan (Death Defying Acts (2007)) breaks out as a true star here, and she (and her incredible blue eyes along with her) simply becomes the moving Eilis Lacey here. She and Emory Cohen (Afterschool (2008)) as her Italian-American beau suit each other and the silver screen magnificently and seem destined to be the year's best movie pairing. Jim Broadbent (Another Year (2010)) also deserves singling out; here he is great as a priest.
Brooklyn has elegant, simple production design (by François Séguin (The Karate Kid (2010)) and photography by Yves Bélanger (Demolition (2015)) and a beautiful, Irish-inspired score by Michael Brook (The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)), which seems to play right into our very souls.
Brooklyn is a true winner that moves, inspires, causes recognition and joy, - and transforms your heart into a veritable lump of melting butter. It is written by Nick Hornby (Wild (2014)), based on the same-titled 2009 novel by Colm Tóibín (The Empty Family (2010)), and is the 5th feature directed by Irish master filmmaker John Crowley (Intermission (2003)).

Related posts:

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 11 mil. $
Box office: 62 mil. $
= Huge hit
[Brooklyn premiered 26 January (Sundance) and runs 112 minutes. Shooting took place from March - April 2014 in Ireland, including Dublin, New York and in Montreal, Canada, which doubled for Brooklyn. Funding came together as a puzzle from no less than 20 companies and governmental bodies. The film opened #30 to a 187k $ first weekend in 5 theaters (a solid 37k $ average) in North America, where it spread to peak at #9 and in 947 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 38.3 mil. $ (61.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 8.5 mil. $ (13.7 %) and Australia with 4.5 mil. $ (7.3 %). The film was nominated for 3 Oscars: Best Film, lost to the great Spotlight, Best Actress (Ronan), lost to Brie Larson in masterpiece Room, and Best Adapted Screenplay (Hornby), lost to Charles Randolph and Adam McKay for masterpiece The Big Short. The film was also nominated for a Golden Globe, won 1 out of 6 BAFTA nominations, 1 out of 5 British Independent Film Awards, 2 out of 7 Irish Film and TV Awards and many other awards and honors. In Canada, which was one of the countries behind the film, it was the highest-grossing Canadian or part-Canadian film of 2015, making 4 mil. C$. In Ireland, it had the biggest opening (650k $) for an Irish or part-Irish film since 1996's Michael Collins. The film ranked on more than 120 film critics' Top 10 lists of the year. Crowley followed up his success with directing two episodes of True Detective's 2015 S2. His next feature is the much bigger (40 mil. $) budgeted drama The Goldfinch, starring Ansel Elgort and Aneurin Barnard, which is in pre-production. Brooklyn is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8.4/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Brooklyn?

The Way Back (2010) - Weir's honorable but muddled, presumably last film

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A textural and visually appealing poster for Peter Weir's The Way Back

 

A political prison in Sibiria during the Stalin regime: Extreme hardship reigns, and surrounding the camp is colossal, hostile Russia. A group of prisoners escape and launch on a 4,000 mile walk through forests, desert and mountains. - Not every one makes it.

 

The Way Back, written by Keith R. Clarke (Ben-Hur (2016)) and great Australian co-writer/co-producer/director Peter Weir (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)), based on Sławomir Rawicz's supposedly autobiographical novel The Long Walk (1955), is on an honorable mission: Portraying the misanthropic consequences of communism with a story that utilizes Christian themes. Unfortunately the film isn't good enough.

The language aspect, (different kinds of English accents, Russian accent, broken English and some few Russian words are combined), is interfering and strange. Colin Farrell (Alexander (2004)) is just plain bad as a brutal Russian with Stalin in his heart. The film has nearly no releases in the form of humor, - but it does have unconvincing CGI wolves, (ugh!) The harshness of nature isn't done justice in this regrettably mixed experience which seems destined to become Weir's last film.

 

Related review:

 

Peter Weir: The Cars That Ate Paris/The Cars That Eat People (1974) or, Small Town, Big Hell

Watch a 1-minute clip from the film here

Cost: 30 mil. $

Box office: 20.3 mil. $

= Huge flop

[The Way Back premiered September 3 (Telluride Film Festival) and runs 133 minutes. Filming took place from February - June 2009 in Bulgaria, Morocco and India. Pole Rawicz's book's truthfulness has been contended by several since its publication, which was sold in more than 500k copies. Weir believes the story to be true but says his film is "essentially fiction". The film opened and peaked at #15 in 678 theaters to a 1.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed just 2.7 mil. $ (13.3 % of the total gross). The 3 biggest markets were France with 7.3 mil. (36 %), Spain with 4 mil. $ (19.7 %) and the UK with 3 mil. $ (14.8 %), (followed by North America.) The film was nominated for the Best Makeup Oscar, which it lost to The Wolfman. The Way Back is certified fresh at 75 % with a 6.8 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Way Back?