ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET – Review by TJ Callahan

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret: Welcome to Womanhood.

Are you there God? It’s me, Teej. Thank you for being the guiding light behind this refreshing and fun film adaption.

Thank you for giving the vision to writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig to make the perfect movie from such an iconic and beloved book by Judy Blume. It’s obvious Blume’s novel was held near and dear to her heart and you could feel it on screen.

Thank you for the excellent casting of Rachel McAdams, Benny Safdie, Kathy Bates (who looked like my husband’s Grandma Esther) and the wonderful Abby Ryder Fortson who brought
tons of warmth and expression for such a young actress. She will go far. As a matter of fact, all the younger actors played their parts with believability.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret could have gone so wrong. It’s not an envied task to recreate what so many have in their memories as their favorite story about growing up. Anyone who was a preteen between 1970 and now has read It’s Me, Margaret and immediately felt heard and seen.

It’s difficult to reinvigorate excellence, but this cast and crew has. Sometimes you want your favorites to be so good, you become too critical, but this feature version manages to keep our memories intact of reading the book under the covers with a flashlight and taking some of the pain out of puberty.

One of the best coming of age novels is now one of the best coming of age movies. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is The Brady Bunch without the laugh track. It’s your childhood scrapbook on the big screen. All ages will leave the theater with a smile. Even my husband Ricky gives it 2👀’s open. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret gets a 9….mostly because it didn’t ruin my memories.