Movie Review
4.899 out of 5 Stars
Before the actual review... a confession. I've never read the book.
I know, I know, I'm the worst. I
am currently in the middle of it and really enjoying it, but it was just something that I never had to read for school and never caught my attention on its own. But that being said, this review is based
solely on the movie in and of itself as a work of art, not so much as an adaptation of a literary work. Also, I'm not sure where to mark where spoilers start, so if you haven't seen the movie or read the book, you may just want to hold off on reading this until you do.
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I really loved movie. I really really did. It was so sweet, and so warm, and so homely, that I am seriously considering going back to the theaters so I can watch it again. I saw it with my sister, my mom, and my aunt (the boys in my family didn't want to see it-- harumph), which I think just made the viewing experience all the more special because I was with family. It's too bad though that not everyone wanted to go see it because I think everyone would have really enjoyed it. Yes, it is a movie about sisters. Yes, it is a bit romantic. Yes, it is a period piece. BUT, it really is mostly about family and friendship, and it's done in a way that I think is very accessible to any audience type.
On a technical level, everything about it seemed really well done as well. I don't have any sort of theater or film studies background, but there were still some things that I really appreciated. For example, the whole film, while being set in the Civil War era, felt so incredibly modern, and that could not have been easy to accomplish, either in writing or directing. I don't believe this movie has any SAG Award nominations (sad), but Saoirse Ronan is up for a Golden Globe for playing Jo and Alexandre Desplat is up for a Golden Globe for original score. Nominations for the Oscars won't be announced for another couple of weeks, but I'm curious to see if they get any nominations there.
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The acting really was great though. Saoirse was
phenomenal and I'm not at all surprised to see that she got a nomination and I won't be surprised if she gets any other nominations for her work in the future. I also think Florence Pugh did a really amazing job, as well as Timothee Chalamet. The whole cast seemed to work together really well, and this might go toward the directing a bit, but I loved how they all just chattered around each other. It reminded me so much of my own family with all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, etc. just talking over each other all at one with a thousand conversations all tangled into one giant lump.
One of the small details that I really appreciated was the shift in lighting throughout the whole film. I don't know what exactly that's called, but I'm pretty sure that whenever the girls were in their childhood-happy-fun-innocent periods, the lighting was all golden and warm. But then in their adult periods, it was cooler and more blue. There was such a lovely connection then at the end when at the very end of it all, they're all adults with children at the school, but the lighting isn't blue like the other times that they are adults, but golden like when they were kids.
Favorite scenes...
Oh my God the attic scene where Jo has her monologue about being lonely was one of the best things I think I've seen in a movie in a
loooooooong time. Everything from the words she was saying, to how she was slightly shaking, to how she punched emotion into certain words made the whole scene so potent and ripe with longing that Jo had pent up inside herself. I think that may be one of the scene that will be shown around in promos and stuff, but this one piece within the whole puzzle is 10x more powerful than it is alone.
I also really loved the scene in France where Amy tells Laurie that she refused the other guy's hand in marriage, but is like, "We don't need to say anything else about it," and he just kisses her. Ah!! Swoon!!!! But also, I really loved them together as a couple. There was a part of me that was disappointed for a bit that Jo and Laurie wouldn't be together, but Jo was right and it makes so much sense for them to only be friends. And then when she writes the letter to Laurie telling him she changed her mind, I was so mad because she didn't actually love him the way that he needed to be loved for a marriage, not like how Amy loved him. Jo wanted to not be along-- a very valid want-- but it would have been a cheap way to get it, and at the expense of both of their happiness. No, Amy and Laurie make so much more sense together and that scene in Paris was the proof of it. Laurie has finally realized that he loves Amy and knowing how she feels about him, acts perfectly on it. She doesn't initiate it, only coolly lets him know where things are at, and that is that. So perfect. I loved it.
Okay, also... Beth's
death?!?!! I don't know if I can say it was a "favorite" scene, but it was a strong one. Absolutely. Heartbreaking. Like I said, I hadn't read the books before I watched this, and unlike my sister, I didn't remember that nugget of information from Friends. (Where Joey and Rachel switch books and he hides
Little Women in the freezer. Remember? It's a good one.) I was a complete mess when she died, like, big, fat, tears rolling down my cheeks in the theater because I was so upset. I was completely unprepared for that AND I was sick so my nose was running as well and in the span of like 5 minutes I had turned into a complete emotional wreck. That scene was so tastefully done though. I loved how, so soon prior to the actual death, they have the scene of when Beth is sick as a kid and Jo runs down to see her sitting and eating with their mom. The contrast of having Jo run down to have her mother turn around and there is no one else there, for her mom to just start crying, was so so so upsetting. It was like I was being nailed in the heart.
Lastly, I have to give a shout-out to the literature element threaded throughout the entire story. No, duh, it's an adaptation of a literary classic, but I didn't realize how much more than that it was. Jo as a writer was a sight to behold. And the end bits where she labors over her book for Beth for hours on hours without end made the end production of the paper cutting and leather binding all the more satisfying. My mom actually pointed out this next part to me. They all have their children in the last scene. Meg has her kiddos, Amy has her baby, and Jo has her book. It's all so well-rounded with a perfect little ending. And oh my God, the part about an artists owning their work. LOVE THAT. I love that she asks the questions about what the copyright means and what it could be worth in the future, and then she bargains for it, taking a lower advance in the moment. I absolutely love that and I hope that other people on some level will recognize the importance of that as well.
Thanks for reading!
Movies I'm Looking Forward to in 2020
The Assistant
Birds of Prey
Legally Blonde 3 
Soul
1) Journal More
3) Project Project Project
18th Century (6 Weeks)
Phew! This is going to be a lot of reading, a lot of work, and a lot of determination. I do feel very determined though to finish this "course" however, if only because in researching I realized how many more women authors there are out there that I had no idea existed and yet have contributed so much to the literary canon. I also realized though that they were a bit rare, especially in the earlier years. I can name Austen and the Brontes off the top of my head, but then in terms of classic literature, I think of like Dickens and Hardy, Wilde and Orwell. For example, why have I never read Ann Radcliffe? And why had I never heard of Elizabeth Gaskell before? I clearly have a lot to educate myself about and I can't wait to start!!!
The Wicked King by Holly Black
Okay,
so straight up- fresh from the finish- I don't know how I feel about
the ending. We'll... we'll just come back to that later.
I'm not sure if this was the smartest move on my part, but I jumped
straight into just reading this without refreshing myself from what
happened in the first book-- which I read nearly two years ago. So while
I was in my warm-up speed of digesting the story, the actual plot was
already starting to happen and I kind of missed it. Maybe this was
helpful though, because I don't think I was sidetracked by an
expectation. It seems like the most important plot line was resolving
the conflict with the Undersea. Within this however, we are tied back to
the greater issue from the first book which is succession and who gets
to sit on the throne. (And then we get into Carden v. Jude, Jude v.
Madoc, Carden v. Balekin, throw Oak into the mix, etc. etc... whatever.)
However, there was the other plot line of the stupid wedding between
Taryn and Locke. That is what my rusty brain first latched onto,
but ultimately, it boils down to being fairly insignificant on its own.
By this, I mean that it really just seemed to serve as a method for
distracting Jude more. It's a giant shiny toy that gets thrown at the
reader first that, while it does have some important pieces to it,
really just ends up being shiny. The actual meat of the story was lying
underneath it in the beginning.
It wasn't like the story was hard to follow or anything. It was
just slightly distracting when I realized that the wedding wasn't
actually all that important. Especially when the book breaks in half,
this distraction and tear from the story was driven home. When it came
to Book 2, I actually set the book down and stepped away from it for a
couple of days. I just didn't want to deal with it. I felt like I was
about to go deep-sea diving when I was already at the bottom of the
ocean. In that moment, I could tell that everything was about to get
shifted to the actual focus of the book in a way that would require so
much more energy and attention. Instead of being fully incorporated
throughout the entire book, it felt like the important plot was heavily
thrown at the end with sprinkles of it in the rest of the book. It ended
up being worth it because holy cow so much happens in that last third of the book. Which brings us to the ending.
Jude: Oh Jude. I still admire this character so much. I just reread my review for The Cruel Prince,
and I have to say, I liked that she's flawed. Not just in that she has a
genuine fear of the fae, but that she works with it because she has a
stronger hunger for power. What I think is so interesting about her
character though is when it is contrasted against Val, the dead king's
seneschal. Jude makes it a point to say that Val isn't bound to any of
his oaths, especially now that the king is dead. But Val pretty much
refuses that outright, connecting it to his love for the dead king. And
it pricks at my mind because Jude doesn't have a connection like that
that she openly admits and relies on. I think/hope she will come to hold
herself to that standard when it comes to promises to Carden, but we'll
see 'bout that after the whole exile thing. Her trust is likely
shattered a bit, but ultimately, she does need at least one solid
touchstone for reliability or she could never gain traction in the fae
world again (which is, I suspect, the bigger point Val was getting to).
Madoc: My biggest question about Madoc's character is how much he's
going to be involved with Jude's exile and if he'll try to win her back
so to speak. If that is the case, I really hope Jude tells him to shove
it, because Carden isn't playing around anymore. If anything, I think
he may kill Madoc as a way to get even with Jude for killing Balekin.
Multiple birds. One stone. It would be a bit of a shame though because
if Madoc and Jude could just get past each other's petty power plays,
they would've been a great team. 
My (Very Rough) First Look at a 2020 TBR
I think these are mostly listed in publication order, but holy moley, five of these books are all coming out on March 3: The Kingdom of Back, Chain of Gold, Havenfall, Be Not Far from Me, and Crescent City all come out on that Tuesday. Ummmmmmm.... cough, cough, @publishing-- are you trying to kill my grades??? How the hell am I supposed to be able to focus on school with all of those books coming out at once?! :(:(:( At least this is a good problem to have. I'd much rather there be a crap ton of books coming out that I'm looking forward to than to be stuck with a book coming out that I'm just meh about.
Before the actual review... a confession. I've never read the book.