Molly Schumann

Warning spoilers: I grew up with the 1994 version but it's been awhile since I've seen it. I was looking forward to seeing how some of those epic scenes from the 1994 film would be played out in the new one, and they all fell kind of flat for me in the new version. I was open minded to seeing a redeemed Amy in the new version, she was my favorite in the 1994 version, even though I knew she was supposed to be the villain. Florence Pugh didn't really do it for me though, I wouldn't have been able to tell that Amy had aged at all if I didn't know she was supposed to be aging, and I was mostly just irritated by her playful exclamations and dumb blonde outbursts as "child" or immature Amy, but as grown up, European Amy she did well. Laura Dern, who I absolutely LOVE and was most excited to see as Marmee was disappointing, her character is supposed to be the head woman, the matriarch, and her character seemed very sidelined, same with Meg, sidelined. Laurie....he was too little boy to me, it didn't seem very climatic that Jo would reject his proposal, they acted well together but they seemed more like brother and sister, not almost lovers. Beth was cute, I liked her in the new movie but I would have been really confused how she all of a sudden died after getting better if I hadn't seen the 1994 version. Meryl Streep once again steals the screen. I gave it four stars though because if I was a young girl watching Little Women for the first time I'd probably choose the 2019 version, it's lighter, more innocent and quicker paced, and speaks better to younger girls than the 1994 version. I also thought the ending wrapped up really nicely, I was always curious to see how Jo and her German (although in the new version I thought he was Italian the whole time) settled down after their kiss in the rain. I'm also biased because the 1994 version was my childhood movie, my first VHS, even though the adult years confused me back then, and I don't know that any Little Women version could live up to that one for me.