By Susan Polk

Directed by: Gillian Armstrong

Starring: Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Gabriel Byrne

Opens March 30 at Hoyts Theatre Complexes throughout Melbourne

Rating: **

There are no surprises in Gillian Armstrong's latest film; her adaptation of Little Women remains true to the novel, retaining both the familial feel and the gentle nature of the story of the female members of the March brood.

As recent initiates into the fallen gentry and the early stages of the pre-suffragette movement, the Marches have a difficult life. With their father off fighting the Rebels in the Civil War, the responsibility of raising the four headstrong daughters lies squarely on the shoulders of Mrs. March (Susan Sarandon). A believer in equal rights for women, Mrs. March encourages her daughters to make their way in the world using all the resources they possess - no easy feat for women in America in the mid-1800's. It is Jo (Winona Ryder) who carries the heaviest burden; she has no desire to take the easy way out and marry young. The others do their wholesome best to hold the family together - the beautiful Meg (Trina Alavardo), delicate Beth (Claire Danes) and the spoiled-rotten Amy (Samantha Mathis takes on the role of Amy as a young woman while the younger version is played with impressive brattiness by Kirstin Dunst of Interview with a Vampire). The stilted relationship between the Marches and their still-wealthy neighbors is strengthened by the arrival of Laurie, a young man who takes quickly to the March clan, becoming a life-long friend and eventually the conduit for the reestablishment of friendship between the two families.

The moral of Little Women is straightforward and clear - a true heart and strong will conquers all - and the film follows this theme without deviation, making twists in the plot quite impossible.

The production is lovingly attended to by all involved, with gorgeously rich cinematography, a sharp attention to historical detail, and smooth direction on the part of Armstrong. The cast prove themselves to be highly competent in the face of the sacharrine storyline, giving this version of Little Women a welcome touch of reality, as in Jo's trip to New York in winter and Beth's bout with Scarlet Fever. Danes makes a perfect Beth, wasting away with the grace and gratitude of a prepubescent saint, while Alvardo shores up the more two-dimensional role of Meg with a fair amount of heart and intelligence.

Still, the question is: who exactly is going to see this film? It's too complicated for little children, too clean for teenagers, and too familiar - and therefor predictable - for adults. Armstrong has made a very good version of this old standby, but the breadth of the appeal of Little Women is limited by the narrowness of the original.