Little women (Winona Ryder)

(Amazon UK link)

We have two DVDs with films based on Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel ‘Little Women’. We watched the 2019 version - updated for a modern audience - in 2020, and I liked it much more than I had expected to. But it was over twenty years since we watched the 1994 version which is rather closer to the original. So we decided to see it again. I am very familiar with the story, my husband much less so as he has never read the books.

On the whole, this is quite true to the original, although inevitably a lot has been cut out. The four March sisters are realistically portrayed: Trini Alvarado is the responsible Meg, and Winona Ryder is the impetuous Jo, who never quite manages to look tidy, and who spends most of her time writing. I thought Beth (Claire Danes) was the least believable of the four; but a lot of her story is removed from the film. Kirsten Dunst is an excellent young Amy; she’s the only sister who has a different actress (Samantha Mathis) playing her as an adult. But then Meg and Jo were older teenagers anyway at the start of the story.

Their mother, known as ‘Marmee’, is beautifully played by Susan Sarandon, and Christian Bale is perfect as Laurie. I wasn’t entirely sure about Gabriel Byrne as Professor Bhaer, but he grew on me somewhat as the story progressed - and he doesn’t appear, anyway, until later in the film. 

The story follows the March family as the father goes off to fight in the American civil war, leaving his family quite impoverished, though not destitute. They are generous in what they give to a truly poor family who have nothing to eat, although this leads to a frightening bout of illness after an infection is passed on.

Laurie is the rich boy next door who is adopted as companion to them all, and who becomes Jo’s best friend. This is great until he starts to have romantic aspirations, and she is horrified. She doesn’t like the fact that Meg is falling in love, and is determined to remain a spinster…

The film is just under two hours, and covers the entire original book, which was divided into two for the UK (‘Little women’ and ‘Good wives’) so it’s not surprising that large chunks had to be taken out. However I felt that it moved a bit too abruptly, and that some scenes didn’t quite make sense when the earlier events weren’t shown at all. 

We see Amy briefly at school, for instance, but nothing of her fated tea party. We see Beth given a piano, but we never see her tiptoeing next door to take advantage of the piano in the Laurences’ mansion. Laurie’s father is initially portrayed as rather dour and uncaring, so his transformation into a generous donor of time and money also doesn’t quite make sense. 

But, having said that, it’s still a very well-made film, with realistic scenery and costumes, authentic accents and conversations. The scenes that are included are very close to the text of the book, as far as I recall, and some of them are quite moving.  

When we bought this film, I somehow thought it was a black-and-white one I had seen on television years earlier, so was pleasantly surprised that it was in colour. And while one or two scenes from the one I remembered were not in this one, the characters seemed much more believable. 

For someone who would like a good adaptation of the book that outlines the story well and introduces the people realistically, I would recommend this film. Suitable for all the family, but unlikely to be of much interest to anyone younger than about nine or ten. 

There are a few 'extras' on our DVD, including a couple of deleted scenes which were well done, but would not have added to the story; they might even have distracted from it somewhat.

Review copyright 2026 Sue's DVD Reviews