The young cast is terrific all around.Dana Hawley/Lionsgate
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
- Directed by Kelly Fremon Craig
- Written by Kelly Fremon Craig
- Based on the novel by Judy Blume
- Starring Abby Ryder Fortson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates
- Classification PG; 106 minutes
- Opens April 28
Critic’s Pick
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, the feature film, begins at summer camp. A gaggle of swim-suited girls on the cusp of teenage-hood performs joyous running dives from the dock into the water. Adolescence personified – and metaphored.
I searched my brain as I watched. Does the book start at summer camp?
Well. If I was going to immerse myself in the film, I was just going to have to stop that – comparing it to the book. It’s a wise approach to any adaptation. But this is a special case; the attachment generations of women feel to Margaret is strong. Do not mess this up, God.
Interview: Judy Blume is having a well-deserved moment
Director and screenwriter Kelly Fremon Craig does not mess this up. She has created a film that is true to the book’s heart, but is also its own thing. And it is a (mostly) wonderful thing.
Based on Judy Blume’s 1970 middle-grade novel, the film tells the story of Margaret, 11-going-on-12, who has moved to New Jersey from Manhattan with her parents. The plot sticks pretty closely to the book, with some adjustments – including that opening scene. The novel famously begins with Margaret’s titular conversation with a higher power.
I worried about how the film would handle those conversations. (There I went again.) That “Are you there, God …” phrase has been co-opted so widely that it is not just ubiquitous, but teeters on cliché.
How could this film possibly make it sound real, genuine – fresh?
With Abby Ryder Fortson, that’s how.
The film is carried on the strength of this magnificent actor, now 15, who captures Margaret’s pubescent angst with an AAA+ performance.
The young cast is terrific all around – in particular Elle Graham as group leader/mean(ish) girl Nancy.
One of Margaret’s friends, Janie (Amari Price) is Black in the film, as is the earnest, nervous, rookie sixth-grade teacher, Mr. Benedict (Echo Kellum). In the book, the curiosity around Mr. Benedict is tied primarily to his gender. In the film, Mr. Benedict’s race adds layers to the tender exchanges between teacher and students.
Kathy Bates as Sylvia Simon and Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret Simon in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.Dana Hawley/Lionsgate
The film practically gushes with 1970s visual references – from fashion to décor, right down to the pot-roast recipe Margaret’s mom, Barbara, struggles to follow.
Barbara (Rachel McAdams) – more fully realized in the film than the book – has given up her job as an art teacher in the city so she can be a full-time mom in the suburbs. But her stay-at-home fantasies and artistic output become crushed under the weight of living-room furniture selection and heavily hair-sprayed PTA committees. This all felt a little obvious and forced, especially up against the young characters’s lively, nuanced scenes.
I found the choice of Kathy Bates (not Jewish) in the role of Margaret’s kvetching and kvelling very Jewish grandmother Sylvia curious at a time when concerns have been raised around cultural appropriation in casting. And this role certainly brings out all the stereotypes. That said, you can’t argue with Bates’s performance – or with the onscreen chemistry between Bates and Fortson.
Blume, a producer (watch for a cameo), has declared that the film is better than the book. Is Judy Blume ever wrong? Not this time.