Greta Gerwig’s Little Women won’t hit theaters for another month, but it’s already drumming up some serious Oscar buzz. And the most important person — other than Louisa May Alcott herself, of course — has already confirmed what Gerwig’s fans have suspected: yes, the movie is as good as it looks. Gillian Armstrong, who directed the classic 1994 adaptation of Little Women, logged onto Twitter Monday night to offer her approval on Gerwig’s iteration.
“Plucked up courage and saw the new Little Women. And loved it. Very different!” Armstrong wrote. “Brave new structure. Fantastic cast. And yes the message sadly needs to be stronger for this generation.” She punctuated her comments with hashtag #gretaforoscar.
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Critics agree with Armstrong’s analysis: As of now, the movie has a 98% fresh rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Armstrong also quote-retweeted a positive review of the film, adding, “Huge congrats to Greta and the team. In this so far very male lineup for Oscars she has to be a contender. And the never a foot wrong Saoirse [is] a brilliant match for Laura Dern.”
Plucked up courage and saw the new Little Women. And loved it. Very different!
— Gillian Armstrong (@big_pix) November 26, 2019
Brave new structure. Fantastic cast. And yes the message sadly needs to be stronger for this generation.Hopefully now men will see and vote.#gretaforoscar
This December’s Little Women will be the seventh film adaptation of the story. While Alcott’s book tells the story of the March sisters as they come of age, Gerwig’s film opens halfway through the book, when the sisters are adults.
Saoirse Ronan, who previously worked with Gerwig on 2017’s Lady Bird, will take over the role of Jo March from Winona Ryder, who led the cast in Armstrong’s film. Ronan knew, as soon as she heard Gerwig would be directing a Little Women movie, that she wanted the role of Jo — and she told the director as much in person.
“I am not taken to showing up in offices and telling people they have to hire me. It’s not something I do, and it’s not something Saoirse has ever done,” Gerwig told Variety. “Through Jo, she allowed herself to be so big. I’m so lucky that she basically told me she was going to play this part.”
With this kind of glittering praise from Armstrong and Gerwig, it sounds like Ronan could have an Oscar nomination in store, too.