Little Women: Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of the classic book has so much of what is needed nowadays: kindness, generosity, love. It’s a wholesome drama, lived by well-mannered, caring and talented characters, aiming to a happy life; also, one that is unafraid to portray strong women. It helps the cast is so charming and effective: Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, and Eliza Scanlen are credible as sister and all inject dimensionality to their characters, and if Ronan (tomboyish, fiery, energetic) and Pugh (frivolous, quarrelsome) fare better, it’s because they are given more to play with. Laura Dern is very fine as their generous mother; Timothée Chalamet is rather well-cast as the enamored neighbor-friend. The film’s structure scrambles the timeline and that maximizes the impact of the story’s emotional beats. It looks great: Jacqueline Durran’s costumes are a wonder, full of personality (which helps define Ronan’s character, in particular); all is finely captured by Yorick Le Saux’s camerawork, which makes everything look colorful, alive. Composer Alexandre Desplat’s musical score is a great fit, and very nice on its own.