"LITTLE WOMEN"— 3 stars — Lea Thompson, Aimee Lynne Johnson, Sarah Davenport, Melanie Stone, Allie Jennings, Stuart Edge, Lucas Grabeel; PG-13 (for some thematic elements and teen drinking); special screening, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 7 p.m., Cinemark 16, 1200 Town Center Boulevard, Provo; in general release
Clare Niederpruem’s “Little Women” puts a light modern spin on Louisa May Alcott’s celebrated 19th century novel. Adapted to contemporary times and built around protagonist Jo March’s quest to publish a novel, Niederpruem’s enjoyable movie — filmed last summer in Salt Lake City, faithfully reconstructs the familiar threads of Alcott’s autobiographical story.
As the film opens, Jo March (Sarah Davenport) is a single 29-year-old woman living in Queens, New York. Headstrong and bursting with creative ambition, she is almost desperate to find a publisher, but despite her best efforts, Jo is unable to get her work the attention she desires. Her only lead is a Columbia professor named Freddy (Ian Bohen) who hesitantly agrees to read her manuscript.
From here, chronological flashbacks begin to fill in the story. We go back 16 years to see young Jo (Aimee Lynne Johnson) and her sisters living under the wise tutelage of their mother Marmee (Lea Thompson) while their father (Bart Johnson) serves in the military. Marmee charges the girls to chase their dreams, and their selections are telling.
Jo, of course, wants to be a novelist, and we see her directing her sisters in plays and activities as if they are her own characters to design. Amy (played first by Elise Jones, then Taylor Murphy once Amy reaches adulthood) aspires to be a painter, and her creative aspirations may partially explain the persistent tension in her relationship with Jo. Meg's (Melanie Stone) greatest dream is to marry and have a family of her own, and humble Beth (Allie Jennings) just seems happy to be blessed with the family she has.
As present-day Jo wrestles with her writing — and Freddy’s advice to focus on more personal material — subsequent flashbacks follow the realizations and frustrations of those dreams. Teenage Jo aspires to go off to Oxford University, refuses to apply elsewhere and is crushed when her application is rejected. Meg gets involved with the popular crowd in high school and realizes its downside at an eye-opening senior prom. Beth discovers her love of the piano with the help of the family’s wealthy neighbor Mr. Laurence (Michael Flynn), then finds her passion complicated by a leukemia diagnosis.
For a long time, Amy seems to trail behind her sisters, but she too eventually follows her passions and aspirations. Along the way, all the girls get to know Mr. Laurence’s son Laurie (Lucas Grabeel, “High School Musical" trilogy), who becomes an entrusted confidant and, inevitably, a romantic interest, as does his tutor — who they call the “Manny” — Brooke (local YouTube star Stuart Edge).
Although the story moves back and forth in time, the whole production glides easily along, and its contemporary setting works well with the nostalgic feeling Niederpruem, who starred in the Utah-made film "Once I Was a Beehive," infused into her own film. Even when a character sends a text message, “Little Women’s” story doesn’t feel forced or artificial, and goes for subtlety unlike, say, Baz Luhrmann’s heavily-stylized 1996 update “Romeo + Juliet.”
That may be good news to purist audiences hesitant to see Alcott’s story adapted to a new setting. Though changes are inevitable, Niederpruem’s “Little Women” — coming 150 years after the novel's publication — tries hard to stay faithful to the spirit of its source material, and those worried about the film's PG-13 rating should know that it is a very light PG-13. While some might want more from Marmee or more emphasis on the book’s exploration of poverty, Niederpruem’s film still gets at the heart of the classic novel: the joyous celebration of sisterhood.
"Little Women" is rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and teen drinking; running time: 112 minutes.