Written and directed by Greta Gerwig, the latest adaptation of Little Women has been celebrated as an instant classic by all critics except elderly crank Rex Reed. As a Little Women devotee myself, always prepared to enjoy an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel in any form — including Little Women On Ice and Little Women in Concert — I rushed off to see it with my friend who’s also loved the book since childhood. She grew up as one of four daughters in a struggling family run by a single mother, and identified profoundly with the four shabbily dressed March sisters enduring hardships with their beloved mother, Marmee.

We watched the film with intense concentration. As the credits rolled at the end, I preserved a poker face, waiting for my friend to make her reactions known first, willing to consider her greater Little Women expertise before offering an opinion. Without looking at me, she stood up and said implacably to the screen, “Nope!”

Well, that’s why we’re friends. I hated it, too.