Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.: Judy Blume's Beloved Novel Comes to Life (4K)

The Film:

Ever since its release in 1970, Judy Blume's beloved coming-of-age novel "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." has received widespread acclaim, with The New York Times naming it Outstanding Book of the Year and Time including it on their list of All-Time 100 Novels written in English since 1923. With such popularity & honors, you would think that an adaptation of some sort would have followed relatively quickly, but strangely enough, Blume opted to reject all offers due to its personal nature and out of concern that it wouldn't turn out well.

However, she finally relented in 2018 when she was approached by writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig and producer James L. Brooks (3x Academy Award winner for "Terms of Endearment"), feeling that this was the right team to make it happen. The resulting film was released in 2023 and came with good news & bad news, with the former being that it received glowing reviews from critics & audiences, and the latter being that it under-performed in theaters. It performed modestly when it first came out on home video, but has continued to find an audience on streaming platforms ever since. In hopes of increasing its audience even more, Lionsgate is putting the film in the spotlight by giving it a tremendous 4K upgrade and throwing in all of the previously-released bonus material, so now it's time to revisit what has been deemed a modern classic by many to see if it's truly deserving of the praise it's received.

Taking place in 1970, Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Fortson) returns home from camp and is told by her parents, Barbara (Rachel McAdams) and Herb (Benny Safdie), that they're moving from New York City to New Jersey due to her father's promotion. Naturally she is upset at having to leave everyone behind, including her grandmother Sylvia (Kathy Bates), so she decides to start talking to God about her problems. However, after the move, things don't seem so bad. She even makes quick friends with neighbor & classmate Nancy Wheeler (Elle Graham), who invites her to join her secret club with fellow classmates Janie Loomis (Amari Alexis Price) and Gretchen Potter (Katherine Kupferer).

After a prompt question has Margaret revealing to her teacher that she dislikes religious holidays, she explains that her mother is Christian and her father is Jewish, so they don't observe them, leading her teacher to suggest religion as the topic of her year-long research project. This leads to a heartbreaking discovery about the relationship between her mother & her parents, while also bringing about a chance at reconciliation, all while Margaret tries to deal with upcoming changes that a girl of her age will soon be experiencing.

When it comes to coming-of-age films, it's been a pretty crowded field over the last few decades, where we've seen pretty much every imaginable situation thrown at young folks as they just try to get through the difficulties of adolescence, making it a rather difficult genre to really stand out in. However, "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." amazingly manages to do just that, for just like Judy Blume's original classic novel, it takes a rather frank approach to the issues facing this young lady, on top of putting her right in the middle of a unusual adult conflict.

Curiously, this adult conflict has her being pressured on two sides regarding what religion she will ultimately adopt as her own, with religion being what caused a rift in her family many years ago, as she has only recently found out. As far as this subplot goes, it may be one of the more unique areas a film like this can explore, but it also ends up feeling like a bit of a distraction from Margaret's more important issues (separation from her grandmother, friendship, puberty, etc.). As mentioned, it does provide the story with more conflict, but the rift it caused in her family is a rather nonsensical one in the first place, so in this instance, it does end up feeling more than a little contrived.

As far as the rest of the issues that Margaret has to face, they end up leading to a sweet, compelling tale that has her facing all of them head-on, not the least of which involves her life getting completely up-ended, forcing her to adjust to an entirely new environment. Making new friends, fitting in at school, and starting to notice boys may seem like well-traveled tropes of the genre, but they're handled quite well, not just by writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig, but also by young actress Abby Ryder Fortson, who is surrounded by a wonderful cast of talented youngsters & big-name acting veterans. At the end of the day, it may seem to many to be a fairly standard coming-of-age outing, but it still manages to leave a strong impact, much like the novel has been doing for over 50 years, and now that it's getting a dazzling 4K upgrade, hopefully it'll continue to find the audience that it was unable to find in theaters.

Video/Audio:

"Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." comes to 4K in a 1.85:1, 2160p Ultra High Definition transfer of excellent quality. The picture is beautifully clear & sharp throughout the entire 106-minute duration, perfectly highlighting its multitude of '70s period details. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos audio track is marvelous, giving you all of the dialogue & Hans Zimmer's score in outstanding quality. Overall, Lionsgate has done an amazing job in both areas for the film's new upgrade.

Special Features:

Finally That Time: Making Margaret (20 Minutes)

Are You There Margaret? It's Me, Judy (8 Minutes)

The Secret Crew Club: Margaret and Friends (8 Minutes)

Bringing the Period to Life: Designing Margaret (10 Minutes)

Deleted Scenes (2 Sequences, 2 Minutes)

Key West Roundtable (6 Minutes)

From Book to Screen: Margaret Comes to Life (8 Minutes)

Bras, Bellbottoms, and Bikinis: Creating Costumes (7 Minutes)

Judy Reads Margaret (5 Minutes)

The UHD release comes with a multitude of informative featurettes, totaling about 75 minutes, that focus on areas such as the cast, production design, costumes, adapting the book, and the general making-of. There's definitely more than enough material here for any fan of the film looking to learn more about how it came together.

Conclusion:

Kelly Fremon Craig's adaptation of Judy Blume's beloved novel "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." may seem like just another standard coming-of-age film that has a young girl facing issues as she goes through adolescence, but with its frank approach to the material, its skilled handling of its more common elements, and a wonderful cast, it manages to stand out and leave a strong impact, just like the book has been doing for over half a century.

Score: 3.5/5

Now available on 4K.

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