Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. - Movie Review

Critics Score - 9 of 10

General Audience Score - 8 of 10

Judy Blume is a beloved author who specializes in writing for children and young adults. She’s written several best sellers but what she’s perhaps best known for are some of the books she wrote in the early 1970’s that deal with the issues and challenges faced by young women, especially around the years of puberty. Arguably her most famous and beloved writing was a book entitled Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret., to which women everywhere praised for the way it assisted in teaching adolescent girls about their bodies and the changes they experience in reaching womanhood. The new film from Lionsgate of the same name as the book Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. is an incredible adaptation of page to screen, it’s able to capture the soft and gentle tone of the book impeccably well. And sure, the film may be a bit “girly” while it covers the nuances of dealing with the complexities of young womanhood, but this film is absolutely hilarious. Rachel McAdams plays the mother of Margaret and is doing some of the best work of her career as she plays a supportive wife and mother while coping with issues of her own. In addition to the wonderful coming of age story, I absolutely love the religious themes and it’s exploration of letting children come to their own conclusions about God and religion. Make it a point to catch this one, it’ll undoubtedly be among my favorites of the year, so head to the theatre, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. And Russell too, we’re here and ready to see what you’ve got for us.

SYNOPSIS - We’re headed back in time, to the year 1970, we see the woods of upstate New York and our first shot of Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Fortson) is yelling like a wild woman, she’s in a blue bathing suit with a crew of other girls and they go running and jump off a dock into a lake. Birds Of A Feather by Paul Revere & The Raiders cues up and plays over the girls playing tag, sitting around a campfire eating s’mores and putting on a small theatre play before we finally see them loading up on buses and leaving summer camp. Margaret looks out the window of the white and sky blue bus as it heads back towards the big city of New York. Side note, I drove by the street in downtown Charlotte, NC while they filmed the next sequence of Margaret stepping off the bus and meeting her mother Barbara (Rachel McAdams) who greets her with a big hug and informs her that they bought a car as they lug her massive suitcase off the sidewalk. Sylvia (Kathy Bates), Margaret’s grandmother on her father’s side, is waiting by the car and after the three get home they drag her clothing trunk up to their apartment. Margaret’s father Herb (Benny Safdie) is inside packing, unbeknownst to Margaret, he recently got a promotion and Sylvia quickly spills the beans that they’re leaving her all alone in the city and Margaret and her parents are moving to New Jersey.

That night as Margaret goes to bed she prays, after reciting the film’s title, she pleads to God, “Please, I’m begging you, just stop this move from happening.” This is the point the film begins to explore the religious themes carried over from the book. As Margaret’s mother is Christian and her father is Jewish, they’ve decided to raise her without a specific religion or belief system and let her come to a conclusion about God on her own. So she prays periodically throughout the movie, although she’s unsure who she’s praying to or if he or she is even out there. Despite her pleadings, her parents do move to New Jersey and within a short period of time a neighbor girl, Nancy (Elle Graham), comes to visit wearing a bathing suit and invites Margaret over to run through their sprinkler. As Margaret doesn’t have a swimsuit available due to it being packed away, she borrows one and reluctantly changes in Nancy’s room while she’s present. “You’re still flat”, Nancy remarks as she inspects Margaret after she’s changed clothes. The film also explores so many aspects of the curiosity, fear, excitement and awkwardness of the life as a young woman on the cusp of puberty. Nancy starts a small club of local girls, Margaret being one of the four members, and together they begin to traverse the world of periods, training bras, menstruation, boys and many other things, almost all of them are served up with good dose of humor. The coming of age topics combined with the religious themes and where it all goes with the finale worked out to be a whole lot of lighthearted fun at times but one that also packed a serious emotional punch by the end.

There’s so much to enjoy about this movie, most of the success I attribute almost entirely to the amazing work from the writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig. Not that this film isn’t adapted from some excellent source material to begin with, it’s a fantastic book. But Kelly’s ability to capture so much of what makes the book special and successfully capture the tone, juggle the humor, themes and incorporate all it’s other features make this film really shine in comparison to so many other literary adaptations. The production design and costumes, it’s been a while since I’ve seen so much plaid, but it was quite delightful, the trip back to the early 1970’s which is when the book was originally written, make this coming of age tale so much more charming. The soundtrack is also a fun blast from the past, with songs from artists like Stevie Wonder and The Drifters, they assist in taking us back to the suburbs of the early 70’s Jersey. These aspects are complemented by the outstanding performance of Rachel McAdams, who’s portrayal of Barbara, the lovable mother that encapsulates everything you want to see in an onscreen mom, I found to be an even better and more well rounded character than is portrayed in the book. The newcomer Abby Fortson as Margaret was a delight as well, she completely embodies the character from the book and along with Safdie, Bates and the rest of the cast, this film had a surprisingly formidable ensemble. For children, sex is one big mystery that their own bodies push them to try and solve, piece by piece, clue by clue. This film can be a useful catalyst for parents in breaking the ice on discussing puberty, menstruation, sex or many of those young adult topics that never seem to get addressed and kids then turn to classmates and others to fill in the blanks. Even with the fifty year gap between today and when the book was written, Are You There God? explores so many of the nuances of life at that age in such a relatable and engaging way that it’s tough to not fall head over heels for Margaret and company.

SUMMARY - As evident from this film’s lackluster box office draw to date, there’s some serious trepidation amongst the general population about this one. Critics are falling all over themselves for Margaret, but this family friendly movie is one anybody can enjoy and parents of young girls should especially seek out and take their kids to Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. She’s fun, heartwarming and a pleasure to spend a couple hours with.