Review of Little Women

Winona Ryder seemed to have scored a major coup by having her name appear above the title of the picture during the opening credits. Granted, she already had a pretty good body of work behind her, but there were quite a few significant members of the cast in this picture. It's true that at a certain point, her character Jo March takes center stage in this tale of four sisters growing up during, and following the Civil War era. She did a credible job, though the film and story were greatly enhanced by the gorgeous camera work by cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson. I have no quarrel with the movie per se, but as a male senior citizen, there's not much I was able to relate to regarding the story. Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott, it's fairly transparent that the author is represented by Ryder's character in this largely autobiographical story. It follows the fortunes of the four March sisters on their way to maturity and adulthood along with the attendant rituals of courtship and marriage that they experience, save for young Beth (Claire Danes) who succumbed to the ravages of scarlet fever. Reading several of the reviews on this board, there seems to be a dichotomy between those who feel the movie followed the novel fairly closely and those who thought it did a terrible job. Not having real Alcott's novel, I'd have to leave that impression to each viewer to decide.