‘Are You There God?’
The film concludes with the depiction of the girl’s first menstrual cycle, a moment of sincerity, revelation, and even catharsis and excitement.
In 1970, Margaret Simon, 11, is informed by her parents Barbara and Herb that the family is moving from New York to New Jersey suburb, as Herb has received a promotion. Margaret is upset about moving away from her friends and her paternal grandmother, Sylvia.
Thus, she begins to communicate with God about her concerns, anxieties, and hopes.
Upon moving to New Jersey, Margaret becomes friends with her neighbor and classmate Nancy Wheeler. Nancy welcomes Margaret into her friend group with Gretchen Potter and Janie Loomis.
Margaret dislikes religious holidays, due to the fact that her mother is Christian and her father is Jewish. Not observing any holidays, the family has left it up to Margaret to decide on her own religious identity.
During the shoot of Lionsgate’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Rachel McAdams had her five-month-old daughter and two-year-old son on set. Even her younger sister and make-up artist Kayleen had her two children, two and three months, by her side. “We had a really amazing mom-positive set,” she recalls. “Everyone understood me having to send breast milk down the road in a van all day long.”
But McAdams is susceptible to the looming sense of “mom guilt” that plagues working parents, despite being “very lucky” to have lots of time with her kids.”
She channels her experience in portraying her role as Barbara Simon, the mother of the titular character Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) in Kelly Fremon Craig’s adaptation of Judy Blume’s book that took 50-years to make it to the big screen.
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Theatrical release poster
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The movie has generated acclaim, especially for McAdams’ impressive turn. Already a winner of the L.A. Film Critics for best supporting performance, she should earn her second Oscar nomination after her first, in the 2015 journalistic drama, Spotlight, which also won the Best Picture Oscar.
Photo: Spotlight
Fremon Craig also received an adapted screenplay nomination from the Critics Choice Awards, and with Oscar winners attached like actress Kathy Bates and producer James L. Brooks, the visibility of the film has been increased, even if the film has not performed very well at the box-office.
One of her iconic roles was as high-schooler Regina George, the self-proclaimed Queen of the Plastics in the 2004 teen comedy Mean Girls.
An adaptation of the Broadway musical version of the movie will be released in January by Paramount Pictures, with scribe Tina Fey returning. Unfortunately, it sounds like McAdams will not appear despite Fey and Tim Meadows reprising their roles, although it sounds like we came close to having a Regina cameo.
“Tina and I dabbled with a few ideas, but it was tough to make it all work in the end,” she says. “I was really down for whatever she wanted to do. I think the direction it went in will be fantastic and I cannot wait to see it.”
In early November, a Black Friday Walmart commercial aired that reunited original Mean Girls cast members Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Chabert, but without McAdams.
McAdams says: “I guess I wasn’t that excited about doing a commercial if I’m being totally honest. A movie sounded awesome, but I’ve never done commercials, and it just didn’t feel like my bag. Also I didn’t know that everyone was doing it. I would, of course, always love to be part of a ‘Mean Girls’ reunion and hang with my plastics.”
Credits:
Directed by Kelly Fremon Craig
Screenplay by Craig, based on Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Produced by James L. Brooks, Judy Blume, and others
Cinematography Tim Ives
Edited by Nick Moore, Oona Flaherty
Music by Hans Zimmer
Production company: Gracie Films
Distributed by Lionsgate
Release dates: April 23, 2023 (SFIFF); April 28, 2023 (US)
Running time: 106 minutes
Budget $30 million
Box office $21.5 million
