This movie was already playing in US theaters from December last year, and hence I did not expect it to be shown in Indonesia. Hence it was a welcome surprise when it was finally released yesterday as my wife who really loved the novel and I who wanted to find out how good the movie was as it got multiple awards nomination, could get the chance to see it in the cinema. So how was the movie? Let's find out.
Brief Story Line
Set in the 19th century, the four sisters of March family with the eldest Meg (Emma Watson - The Circle, Harry Potter series etc) who yearned to be an actress, the second one Jo (Saoirse Ronan - The Lovely Bones, Hanna etc) a tomboi and ambitious writer, Amy (Florence Pugh - Midsommar etc) who was rather spoilt and always wanted to be rich and last but not least, the soft & kind hearted Beth (Eliza Scanlen - Sharp Objects miniseries etc) were living happily in their home in Massachusetts. While their father was away during war, they were left with only their mother who was referred to as Marmee (Laura Dern - Cold Pursuit, Downsizing etc) and house keeper Hannah to take care of them.
They grew quite close with their wealthy neighbors Mr. Laurence (Chris Cooper - Seabiscuit, Capote etc) and his grandson Theodore "Laurie" (Timothée Chalamet - Call Me by Your Name etc) with Laurie's private tutor John Brooke (James Norton). During the course of the next few years, many things would affect the lives of the March girls as well as their neighbors.
And how would the story conclude? Find them all in this truly lovely drama movie.
End of Brief Story Line
Frankly I could not remember if I had seen the previous adaptations of this 1868 novel (written by Louisa May Alcott), but even if I did, I have totally forgotten about the whole movie's plot. Therefore I could not compare it at all. However, I always knew that it has a beautiful story and set in the 19th century. And after finishing this film, I was really amazed. It was an emotional touching movie with some really wonderful performances from the cast. Something that touched the hearts of both me and my wife.
As a drama movie, this has all the ingredients that would make audience love all the characters and their stories. We were captivated from the start with my wife's favorite character Jo, and then with the rest of the March women. We also were rooting for their neighbors and really want the best for all of them. The cast really did a fantastic job in portraying their roles, with Academy Awards nominations awarded to Saoirse Ronan in the lead role and Florence Pugh in the support role. Even the minor roles were played convincingly by the rest of the cast, with 1 name in particular: Meryl Streep who left a great impression even with such brief screen time as Aunt March.
One thing that I needed time to adjust at first was the way the story told which seemed confusing as it was going back and forth but luckily my wife highlighted something that I did not notice earlier, which was the way the movie's ambiance was different during the flashback scenes. This really helped to immediately differentiate when the story was told in the past. Though as the story progressed, I believe we would also get used to the story telling even without the different ambiance. I believe this was due to the great job done by the director Greta Gerwig. Amazingly, she also managed to make a 135 minutes drama (including short closing credits without any mid or post end credit scene) did not feel too long.
The music in here was absolutely wonderful. I love how it was able to bring us into the right mood every time. And the costume department definitely did an admirable job with great looking appearance for all. It was nice to see the settings were done remarkably as we felt we were transported into the 19th century. But aside from those technical aspects, I thought the movie did deserve its best picture nomination because of how it affected us. There were more than few times it had emotional moments which were greatly enhanced by the performance of the cast. And there was one scene in particular which I am very sure even the toughest person would be affected (obviously my wife was one of the many audience left in tears).
I am not a major fan of drama movies and sometimes it would take something exceptional to make me take the time to see it and enjoy. And this one fit into the category where it would be a worthy film to be seen as it would provide a great feeling and nice experience after watching it. So if you are fans of drama movie, or if you are fan of the novel (like my wife whose book had been torn out after reading it so many times), this would be truly satisfying. Even if you are not drama movie lover, I think it would be good to give this a try and hopefully you will enjoy it as much as we did.
Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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