The March Sisters at Christmas (2012 TV Movie) User Reviews

Needed some refining

[Christmas-Reviewer · 6/10 · 3 November 2016]

Its hard to screw up a movie when the template is "Little Women" but they sure do come close. Its is a modern adaption and I can see the reasoning for doing this. It has been done several by theatrical films (Clueless was an adaption of Emma) however this TV-movie fails on several fronts.

In this film all these "Little Women" are in their 20's and still live at home. In this adaption all of the "March Women" go bonkers when "Mom Decides to sell the family home". What was strange was the script has them still acting with the maturity of JR HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS instead of 20 something women.

This production should have had Joe a lesbian and her editor a woman.

If you never read "Little Women" shame on you. If you have then you will see how this movie fails.

If you never read or seen "Little Women" then chances are you might like this. Plus chances are you also love "The Kardashians"

Disappointed

[morgietrue · 1/10 · 29 December 2012]

If you grew up a fan of Little Women, if you always felt like you should be apart of the March Family then you were probably excited when you caught wind of this modernized retelling of Louisa May Alcott's classic coming of age tale. Well sorry to disappoint but despite the potential a modernized Little Women might promise, The March Sisters at Christmas did not deliver. In place of the transcendentalist principles practiced by the humble little Marches who practiced temperance, and acts of charity in the original tale, the Marches in this modern retelling are portrayed as selfish, slutty young women who party a little too hard partially in the case of Amy. I can't say which I was more disappointed with the fact that this new skankified Amy March posted naked pictures of herself on Jo's twitter feed to parallel the treacherous burning of Jo's manuscript, or her exploited relationship with Teddy. Where the original tale illustrates Amy's loyalty to Jo when she resists Laurie/Teddy because she feels he still belongs to Jo, The March Sisters at Christmas represented her as a conniving little slut just waiting to pounce to so she might have vengeance on her sister. I will say we can probably all own up to the fact that growing Amy March was that one character who we all just wanted to choke but she was never meant to be the villain and as bratty as her behavior can be sometimes she was never portrayed as being quite so insufferable as this movie as made her out to be. I hate to sound like that annoying person who just compares movies to the book their based on and fusses over minute details, and I assure that's not the point I'm trying to get across here. I feel that this movie lost the essence of a family tied together in love, trying to change the world and make it a better place. The Marches are role models and at the same time characters young girls should be able to relate to. They lost that by making Amy so unlikable. Instead of being someone young girl's can relate to she became that girl the little slut who stole everyone's boyfriends in high school, that girl that everyone loved to hate. Despite her shortcomings Amy is is multidimensional and has a lot of good to her that I feel was just completely tossed aside.

Better than expected, better than current IMDb rating!

[huggibear · 7/10 · 6 December 2017]

I gave this 7 stars because I liked it better than the typical Hallmark Channel movies. It was different and very likable. The plot was charming. The sisters were charming, even if they couldn't get along. The men were charming as well, including the older one. This movie warmed my heart and kept me interested. At first, I thought it was going to be lame, but it got much better. It's worth a viewing! It might be one of my faves because of the home and relationship improvements.

Horrible

[rooseveltdmoss · 1/10 · 17 November 2019]

This was a disappointment. The character jo annoyed me through the whole movie. Clearly she felt something for Teddy but instead chooses a guy she just met like a week ago. Really? I hate movies like these, the ones where the female characters chooses the wrong guy they had no chemistry with whatsoever. If they showed more of jo and this editor guy on how they love flourished than I probably would've bought it. Teddy was clearly a better ending with jo.

Pleasant Surprise

[jlstrueblue · 7/10 · 17 December 2019]

I didn't really expect to like this but had to watch it because Little Women is my favorite book. After getting over my self-righteous anger about Jo being a blonde and the cringe-worthy early scene at the Halloween party, I began to appreciate the nods to events in the book and the creative way the writers modernized everything. And at least the plot is not the typical "girl goes home for Christmas and dumps rich, arrogant fiancé for sweet hometown boy." I also liked most of the casting found myself smiling as I watched.

Definitely doesn't compare to the book, but enjoyable to watch.

Tedious Viewing

[johnginesi-72278 · 2/10 · 10 July 2020]

This is the worst story of the Little Women series, it is more like a reboot of the Brady Bunch, it lacks the original time period, wonderful costumes and the original storylines, it would be similar to making Gone With The Wind during the Korean War, it just does not work for me, Sorry, but filmmakers just can't make good movies anymore. Maybe the future films may make some back to basic films, we will have to wait and see.

It's about love

[adamjohns-42575 · 7/10 · 27 October 2020]

Loosely based on Alcott's "Little Women", the March Sister's are of course Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy and in this story they are trying to stop their parents from selling their family home, with all the trouble of boys to contend with at the same time.

I like the fact that there is more than one story going on, even if some outshine the others, but it makes a change for a Christmas film to have a different formula, other than boy meets girl!

As a writer myself, I enjoy that element of the story, but the character of Jo is played as a very mean, quite b*tchy and bossy cow, who's gobby loudness gets a bit much at times. The other three seem to fit the parts well though.

I'm not sure why Lex Luther lives next door, but the handsome Teddy and Marcus help the story if you enjoy some man candy.

Another enjoyable and easy to watch film.

What am I watching?

[90sOddity · 1/10 · 23 December 2021]

The acting is horrible, for one. Let's start there. At least for 3 out of 4 of our main actresses.

The storyline is chaotic. Which understandably makes sense because that's basically the plot, but it's done super messy. Very rushed. The arguing is literally over petty little things that could very well be spectacular if translated well to the viewers, but since the acting is so bad it just leaves you wondering, "what the hell is going on?" Clocked out at 44:07 just couldn't do more.

A lot better than I expected!

[mfonsecamalavasi · 9/10 · 16 December 2018]

This was fun and entertaining and the plot centers on Orchard House. A lot of the events portrayed are based on the novel. The sisters' personalities are also well crafted. The casting was good.

The movie was a better than other adaptations I've seen.

Enjoyable

[athompsonblue · 8/10 · 22 February 2021]

I've not read the book, and this is the first adaptation I've seen. I liked it. Since then, I've also seen the recent version with Meryl Streep and Emma Watson. Even fans of the book should enjoy this Hallmark version. The modern setting prepares you to accept other changes to the story. But you'll still appreciate the similarities to the original. One improvement they made to Amy's character is that, when she sabotages Jo's writing, she's now acting from a place of genuine hurt. In the more accurate version, she's just being a childish brat. Not that she's any more justified here. But Jo was being more of a stubborn jerk here.

Cute but just edgy enough

[vchimpanzee · 11 December 2022]

I have seen at least one adaptation of "Little Women" but that was years ago. I don't remember anything about it except that Kirsten Dunst was so cute as the youngest of the girls and that a young Ryan Seacrest, who I had never heard of, was the host for the broadcast. I just know the novel was about four girls and their mother.

I have this memory of watching a movie set in the present day, but when I watched this, I didn't remember anything except that the girls' father was in it toward the end. Maybe I haven't seen this.

Anyway, I liked it. I wouldn't say it was great, but I like a movie with four adorable and pretty girls with the potential for romance. Though this movie isn't really about Christmas until the end.

I immediately liked Julie Berman as Jo. Not only is she quite pretty, with a nice smile, but she has this personality that isn't too sweet along with confidence and intelligence. And even though we are told the house is cold, she is the one sister who in one scene isn't all covered up when she gets out of bed.

Molly Kunz as Amy is somewhat edgy but not really a bad girl and wow, she looks good when she's really trying to.

Kailin Doubleday as Meg is pretty, and intelligent in a different way than Jo, suggesting she will be rich one of these days, and somewhat shallow.

And Melissa Farman as Beth is sweet but apprehensive.

I like the potential romantic partners but none of them have the strong confidence that one might look for in a movie like this. Mark Famiglietti as Marcus comes closest. But this is a movie about strong women so it doesn't matter really.

The girls don't need men ... well, not that much ... to do the hard work men normally do. It's not shown all that much but it is assumed they do a lot.

There is just enough conflict to keep this from being one of these cute Hallmark movies. And there are a few curse words and just enough suggestions of sexual activity but nothing explicit, though there is a reference to posting nude photos online. This may be a holiday movie (well, several holidays, and Christmas only at the end) about a family. But a family movie? I would say this isn't quite suitable for kids.

I liked it enough. Let's say it's a different kind of holiday movie.