MOVIE OF THE WEEK #2 (4/21/23): ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET

"Just think - in 50 years from now, parents are going to be worried about their kids twerking!" Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Forston, far left) hangs with her new friends Janie Loomis (Amari Price), Nancy Wheeler (Elle Graham) and Gretchen Potter (Katherine Mallen Kupferer) in a scene from director Kelly Fremon Craig's take on the classic – and controversial – children's book ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET. Credit: Dana Hawley / Lionsgate © All Rights Reserved.

 

 

DIRECTORS: Kelly Fremon Craig

KEY CAST MEMBERS: Abby Ryder Fortson, Rachel McAdams, Bennie Safdie, Kathy Bates, Aidan Wojtak-Hissong, Elle Graham, Amari Alexis Price, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Kate MacCluggage, Echo Kellum and Isol Young

WEB SITE: https://www.itsmemargaret.movie/

THE BACK STORY: Based on the Judy Blume book of the same name that is likely once again a candidate for a ban, ARE YOU THERE, GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET stars Abby Ryder Forston as Margaret Simon. Living in New York City, 11 year-old Margaret finds her life suddenly turned upside down when her mother Barbara (Rachel McAdams) and father Herb (Benny Safdie) tell her they are moving to New Jersey following his promotion. The news isn't exactly welcomed by Margaret nor Herb's mother, Sylvia (Kathy Bates). (Margaret has no idea how her mother's very devout Christian parents feel about the movie, however, since she hasn't spoken to them in over a decade since Barbara decided to marry Herb, who is Jewish.)

Arriving in her new town, Margaret begins to make some new friends, all of whom have their own distinct personalities, so whether she's hanging with the seemingly way too mature for her age Nancy Wheeler (Elle Graham), the more level-headed Gretchen Potter (Katherine Mallen Kupferer) or Janie Loomis (Amari Alexis Price), a.k.a. the black friend, Margaret quickly learn junior high school in a new environment is going to bring a ton of new experiences. 

Along with those new experiences are the ones that hit home on a more personal level, such as maturity, waiting on herself and her friends to ... to put it mildly, "become women" physically and finding out what religion she ultimately wants to be when she is older. And thanks to a classroom assignment by her new teacher Mr. Benedict (Echo Kellum), she's going to likely find an answer to that question sooner than later. 

It's definitely going to be quite the year for young Margaret, her friends and family ... Especially if she never gets any answers from the all-powerful being she's constantly asking questions of ... 

THE REVIEW: Coming of age tales are classic source material for movies – and for good reason: Everyone who is an adult was once a child and that former time period is so critical to shaping the latter that it's something to which everyone can relate. The 1970s may serve as the setting, but ARE YOU THERE, GOD? ... proves itself to be a timeless tale from childhood into adolescence that should help bridge gaps between generations.

A film like this does not work without its young stars being (1) interesting and (2) compelling to make the story feel like both to its audience. Forston does a spectacular job at Margaret, conveying every insecurity, anxiety and ultimately, revelation in a fashion that is exciting, confusing and memorable as childhood itself. This isn't a role defined by its complexity; it's a role that is complex because of it's seeming simplicity – yet to pull it off successfully, Forston must strike a balance between episodes of maturity and innocence as well as precociousness and brattiness. 

While Fortson pulls them all off, it is worth mentioning how well she not only plays against her older, adult counterparts but also alongside her youthful castmates. Watching the interplay among them brings all the complexities of that super-awkward time in life front and center ... Which makes the moments when they come to their own realizations or force the adults in their lives to do so all the better. 

That, in fact, is one of the most telling things about what makes ARE YOU THERE, GOD? ... So entertaining. A friend of mine attended the premiere with me; at one point, I could tell she was having a visceral reaction to a major plot point. Asking her why after the film was over, she said it's because it made her, a 40 year-old woman, feel vulnerable. When the actions of children on screen can take you right back to a similar moment in your youth, you know the film is connecting with its target audience. (As was the case with my friend, there are several moments in the film that one may find intense not for what it depicts but for their ability to make the audience recall similar embarrassing moments in their own life.) That's not to suggest the film is only for mothers and daughters, however. Men would stand to learn a lot on how to converse with the women in their life – or at the very least, help rightfully remove the stigmas associated with certain aspects of womanhood. 

ARE YOU THERE, GOD? ... seeks to de-mystify some of the most (or seemingly at the time young women experience them) mysterious times of youth and instead show them as a natural part of life. In today's climate, however, that likely will make it the subject of fodder for pundits and traditionalists to debate what audiences it is and is not well-suited for. (My friend did say she felt the film was 'too real' at a certain point, so take that for what you will ...)

Those issues notwithstanding, ARE YOU THERE, GOD? ... may find its main character seeking the guidance of a higher power, but it definitely should help entertain – and educate – its audience to be a little more mature.

OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):