Where I Watched It: iTunes (VOD)

English Audio Description Provided By: Deluxe

Narrated By: Erin Nixon

I was more of a Beverly Cleary kid in Elementary school, along with whatever was on my reading lists. I’m pretty sure I’ve never read Are you There God? It’s Me, Margaret. That did not have any bearing on my ability to enjoy the film, nor did my gender. This isn’t just a film for girls, or for tweens. It’s just a really great story.

Margaret is a young girl whose parents up and relocate at the beginning of the film, and she’s just starting to come into her own with all these questions about her blossoming womanhood and boys. What are they? What is she supposed to do with them? She makes friends fairly easily, but even that can be an experience she has to navigate. A teacher suggests to her that her year long project might be religion. She doesn’t have one, because her parents come from two different ones, and when they fell in love, her mother (Rachel mcAdams) was disowned by her devout Christian family for falling for a Jewish man (Benny Saftee).

So, Margaret thinks how this has affected her life, watching her parents go through their stuff, and also living in a world where she doesn’t celebrate any religious holiday. They aren’t atheist, they just want Margaret to make up her own mind. It’s kind of the coolest idea for a blended family, as trying to be both is probably confusing and contradictory, and it’s something that likely speaks to kids. That’s what Judy Blume’s story does best, is being perfect for kids, while also remaining intelligent enough for adults to not be lost by the child’s angle in this story.

We get to experience Rachel mcAdams, who is truly brilliant here, experience all the various societal pressures from other moms, while still clearly dealing with the fact that as long as Margaret has been alive, she’s never spoken to her parents. Luckily, her mother-in-law is really supportive, and loving, and Kathy Bates does some terrific work with a role that is often over the phone.

The director of this is also responsible for Edge of Seventeen, which is not my favorite film. I thought it was OK, and the critics liked it overall more than I did. However, here, I agree. I think this might be the best film I’ve seen this year. It has an excellent cast, a terrific discovery in Abby Rider Fortson, and feels timeless. It takes place very much in a specific time period, but the only thing i noticed was no one was texting, or brining up social media. it was actually refreshing. but it didn’t feel like a Time Capsule, or that it was talking about issues that no longer exists. I’m certain mothers and daughters can still get a lot out of this, and that’s a testament to Blume’s novel.

The movie does move toward a climax at the end, and it really makes me wish we had some Young Performer Oscar because kids are rarely ever taken seriously, yet so many carry the emotional weight on their shoulders. If Abby Rider Fortson wasn’t as good as she is, the film wouldn’t work, and she would feel pretentious. It’s easily as good as Woody Norman in C’Mon C’Mon or Elsie Fisher in 8th Grade.

The audio description is just as frank as the film. These kids talk about their periods, and wonder when their breasts will come in, so in scenes where the girls are checking out a porno or a biology textbook to learn more about how the birds and bees work, the audio description doesn’t back away from that. While I’m sure the movie takes place somewhere in the 70’s, it never really took any time to immerse you in the look or vibe of the 1970’s. That might be a disappointment to some, but for those looking for an accessible story that fits any generation, it kinda helps. It’s going to be more personal preference.

This has a solid chance depending on the year goes of being my top pick, but there are a lot of really great films still to come. Certainly, I can’t imagine this not in my Top 10 for the year. It’s a film I already want to watch again, and I almost always need more time before watching a movie a second time, but i would have watched this twice in one day.

Final Grade: A