Review: Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret.

Are You There, God?
It's Me, Margaret.
Cert: PG / 106 mins / Dir. Kelly Fremon Craig / Trailer

Slipping quietly into UK cinemas before the full onslaught of Silly Season™ takes up all the screens, Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret is writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig’s rendition of Judy Blume’s much loved 1970 coming-of-age novel. The book itself has a far greater cultural footprint in its native America, but its message and themes know no such boundaries – as this film proves...

Abby Ryder Fortson plays the eponymous lead (Margaret, that is – not God), with Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie as her parents Barbara and Herb, and Kathy Bates as per paternal-grandmother Sylvia. The story follows Margaret in a new school as an 11yr old, as her family have moved from New York to New Jersey. A tricky age for us all, and an awkward situation to navigate at any. Tensions with friends, family and of course growing-up all jostle for the heroine’s attention, intertwined through her informal prayers to the Almighty.

CHEMISTRY

The good news is that the central performances here are superb in a way that’s thoroughly underplayed; open without being needy and sincere without mawkishness. The chemistry between Margaret, Barbara and Sylvia is a delight to watch, not least because the inevitable moments of drama never feel the need to escalate into over-earnestness. We’re able to share the highs and empathise with all of their differing concerns without taking sides between them.

The supporting cast mostly stick to this ethos (although some characters are by necessity more brash than the rest), but are firmly relegated to the sidelines. That said, with only 106 minutes to transcribe the best part of a year, it’s as well for the director to keep the focus on the central relationship dynamics.

Sets and costumes are of the early 70s era without feeling like cosplay, and Tim Ives' cinematography lends the film the air of a 1980s afternoon TV movie (in no way a bad thing, and probably the only example of it not being a bad thing for many years), and the whole thing carries a thematic simplicity which is impossible to replicate - this can only be organic if it is to work at all.

WOODWORK

If anything, the running time becomes the film’s only significant problem. While I’ll openly admit to not having read the source material*¹, this feels like an adaptation which is skimming chunks to save on minutes. There are no gaps which stop the narrative from functioning, but it often feels like sub-plots aren’t expanded to their full satisfying potential, and there’s little room for the characters (or viewer) to reflect. The introspective scenes which would normally act as decompression spaces in a personal drama don’t really land as the plot hares along chasing the natural ending point.

That said, this is a small price to pay for a genuinely heartfelt film which has no agenda other than relating to all of its audience. There’s an unspoken assumption through marketing and cultural reputation that this is A Girl’s Film; while it certainly can be, it’s really not as limited as that. The movie deserves an audience it probably won't find with a May release.

I’d happily have watched a cut of Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret which was half an hour longer, but I’m also very pleased to have watched the version we got.

*¹ No agenda behind that, but I’m a middle-aged man in the UK and this book is pretty much a rite of passage for women in the US. We didn’t cover this in my school, and it was hardly likely to leapfrog in my reading queue over Chocky or The Robots Of Death...
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