Movie Reaction: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

Formula: The Edge of Seventeen - 5 years

OK. That formula is lazy of me. Kelly Fremon Craig directed both Margaret and Seventeen. And it's far from the truth to suggest she made the same movie twice. However, The Edge of Seventeen is a movie I adore. And this is a recognition that Craig has a special skill with messy coming of age stories where the adults don't seem to know much better than the kids. Hell, even her lesser 2009 movie, Post Grad, shares some of that DNA. This time though, rather than an original story, she's taking on one of the most beloved YA classics of all time.

This is where I should give my standard caveat. I have not read Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. I don't know much about the book beyond what I learned in I Love the 70s and other such pop culture references. I'm assuming anything in the movie probably came from the book. This feels like the kind of movie where this is all good to say up front. There's no emotional connection that I'm combatting with this or list of events I needed to check off.

Margaret is a tween girl in 1970s New York then New Jersey. Like most children her age, she's ready to hurry up and reach adulthood without really understanding what that entails. The most direct sign of this is wanting to get her period, but it also comes out in her friendships, her relationship with her parents, her exploration of religion, and other things.

Immediately, the first thing that struck me was how smart it was to keep the story set in the time when it was written. While the themes are universal, a lot of specifics of this story are not. The internet alone is a game-changer for all of this. I've discovered that I'm a sucker for a good 70s setting anyway.

I loved the casting of the movie. Abby Ryder Fortson, as Margaret, nails the tone needed for this. She's been in several major movies before, and I sensed a comfort in this that probably came from that experience. It didn't feel like a director tricking a performance out of a child actor. Her and the actresses playing her friends just felt like tween girls doing tween girl things. Rachel McAdams as Margaret's mom is obviously wonderful. For wholesome, imperfect goodness, you aren't going to do much better than McAdams. I have fewer thoughts on Benny Safdie as Margaret's father. He's fine. Not a standout, but he fits the part of Jewish father around 40 who fits into the 1970s. Kathy Bates is charming as Margaret's Jewish grandmother, even if she doesn't feel particularly Jewish*.

*I can’t tell you that it would be better to get someone actually Jewish for the part. She’s an Oscar winner and makes it work. I’ll just say she doesn’t strike me as someone who would give birth to Benny Safdie.

On a screenplay level, the movie effectively covers an entire school year in well under 2 hours without anything feeling short-changed. It juggles many subplots and characters and leaves everything resolved that needs to be. In particular, the big moment at the end hits exactly as it should. This is a very sweet movie.

Verdict: Strongly Recommend