PBS' Little Women takes its time to be worth watching

The Washington Post

Angela Lansbury, Emily Watson and Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke's 19-year-old daughter Maya Hawke star in the two-part Masterpiece adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel, premiering Sunday. Little Women, says Hank Stuever, "feels a little weak at the outset, with the story streamlined by Call the Midwife creator Heidi Thomas’s screenplay and arranged by director Vanessa Caswill in such a prettified way that it looks more like a Little Women Instagram feed than a timely interpretation. It’s gorgeous in high-def — the camera lingers over fuzzy kittens, frozen ponds, blooming flowers and billowing linens in the sunshine — but also empty and perfunctory. The performances, however, rise to the novel’s reputation." ALSO: Angela Lansbury towers over the solid cast.