film criticism by maryann johanson | 25 years: 1997–2022
This modern update of the beloved classic novel is embarrassingly misjudged, so earnest and on-the-nose a transfer to today that the March sisters feel not like modern girls but odd, out-of-step transplants from another time.
In the moment of #MeToo and #TimesUp, this tale of the relationship between an older male professor and his young female student is howlingly out of step and outrageously tone deaf. And that’s on top of its tedious clichés.
Don’t worry: he’s tops on the enemies list now.
