Why So Blu?

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (Blu-ray Review)

One of the year’s best reviewed films comes from an adaptation of a book from much long ago,  Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. The film had a little run at the box office, but now has come to Blu-ray for more to see and go beyond the film with bonus features. Released by Lionsgate on July 11th, Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. comes with a Dolby Atmos audio track, making of, deleted scenes and much much more. You can order yourself a copy by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review at the bottom of the page.

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Film

In this long-awaited movie adaption of Judy Blume’s classic, groundbreaking novel, eleven-year-old Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) is uprooted from her life in New York City to the suburbs of New Jersey, going through the messy and tumultuous throes of puberty with new friends in a new school. She relies on her mother, Barbara (Rachel McAdams), who is also struggling to adjust to life outside the big city, and her adoring grandmother, Sylvia (Kathy Bates). A timeless coming-of-age story, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret sparkles with insightful humor while candidly exploring life’s biggest questions.

While I read a few Judy Blume books growing up as a kid in the 1980s and 90s (I’m pretty sure most of my generation read at least one), I can’t recall if Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret. was one of them. Some of the character names sounded familiar as did events in the story, but that could have been through learning of them or others telling me about their readings. But, I do recognize that this is one of the most notable titles. And a title that has been beyond parody without the actual book ever being made into something for either television (series, movie) or feature film adaptation.

Abby Ryder Fortson got aged out of her Marvel role in the Ant-Man movies but was the perfect age for Margaret here in this adaptation of a longtime classic read. Having seen both now, I’m pretty sure she fared the best. This is a real break out performance here and she is indeed the bonafide lead in the film which never crutches on the adult characters for more than the story needs to be. Fortson has the comedic chops, the awkward innocence and a sense of fish out of water to really drive this movie to success. She’s so good in this, its hard to imagine somebody else in this role let alone another hitting these degrees of success.

The narrative is more based on vignettes and scenario than any straightforward story, but it works in part to the favor as a sort of memoir, journal entry or recounting messages to this “god” to which she speaks to in the film. And speaking of, this film’s agnostic approach is a breath of fresh air and really showcases the harm and silliness the fight over who is right in religion can bring to families and friendships before even thinking of global repercussions for living lives and trying to force others to do so based on your perceptions or reality and fantasy. While its a bubbly movie, it isn’t afraid to introduce or tackle these things head on in its depiction and perspective of Margaret through it all.

Aside from the deep thematic nature of the film and its title, a majority of this ride is a pretty fun one. And it has a rather sensational young cast to deliver the goods. They are all features some marvelous chemistry and are game for whatever the source material has to throw at them. In today’s meme/internet culture, had this movie caught more fire at the box office, I could see a world where this movie becomes a constant source for such daily lifestyle postings. Nonetheless, I think this movie will probably build and become a part of a generations upbringing through recommendation, streaming and being able to check out the movie adaptation from reading the book for enjoyment or assignment. Heck, maybe schools might show the film now during the year. Like the god Margaret speaks to in the film, the only future this film now has as a catalog title, is up.

Video

Disclaimer: Screen captures used in the review are from promotional images provided by the studio, not the 4K UHD Blu-ray disc.

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 108op

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Layers: BD-50

Clarity/Detail: No 4K release as of now for the film, but it comes with a lovely looking Blu-ray transfer that is pretty much as good as you can get from the format. This has a nice 70s sheen to it from the period setting that carries over quite well visually. It has a distinct color palette to go with a rich, bold image that feels full and carry plenty of detail.

Depth: Depth of field is pretty rock solid with good scale and feels pretty big and film-like. Motion is smooth and cinematic and no blur or jitter distortions occur with any rapid movements.

Black Levels: Blacks are deep and rich. There is a tremendous amount of good shadow work, shading and texture from the black levels here allowing a differentiating look at patterns, finer details and more. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction: Colors skew on the very brown and yellow look of the era but there are some nice pops with clothing and store displays.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural and consistent from start to finish. Facial features and textures are easily discernible from any given distance in the frame.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English Descriptive Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish

Dynamics: Who’d have thought this one would deliver us an Atmos track, but applause nonetheless. it doesn’t really do a lot of with it, in a good way (no exaggerative scenes or using utilities just cuz they are there). But, the spacial audio really does breath and feel loose to add some good depth to what you’re watching.

Height: Are You There Viewer? It’s Me, Ceiling Speaker. I couldn’t really tell much as to what was being distributed from the center channel other than some ambiance or songs or score from time to time.

Low Frequency Extension: The subwoofer does best to accentuate some of the natural sound effects and bring them a little more cinematic feel. Things like doors shutting, car engines humming and the like.

Surround Sound Presentation:  The rear channels build a nice environment and room ambiance while also tracking offscreen activity and helping with sound travel. This is a more front focused track, but you do feel 360 degrees of the film as you watch.

Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are clear and crisp.

Extras

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. comes with the standard DVD edition and a redeemable digital code.

Finally That Time: Making Margaret (HD, 19:55) – Lionsgate is pretty good at making these nice little making ofs that aren’t insanely extension but they go beyond the fluff and are pretty informative with good interviews and behind the scenes footage.

Are You There Margaret? It’s Me, Judy (HD, 8:00) – Author of the source material, Judy Blume, sits for a little conversation.

The Secret Crew Club: Margaret And Friends (HD, 7:58) – A featurette on the young cast in the film.

Bringing The Period To Life: Designing Margaret (HD, 10:07) – This one looks at the production design and bringing the period setting and book to life.

Deleted Scenes (HD, 1:35)

Roundtable Discussion (HD, 6:12) – A conversation with Judy Blume, James L. Brooks, Abby Ryder Forston, Kelly Fremon Craig, Rachel McAdams and Julie Ansell.

Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:15)

Summary

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. is a film that didn’t set the box office on fire, but I do feel confident is going to have a long shelf life for generations to come. Lionsgate gives it a very quality Blu-ray release with about the best presentation you could ask for on the format. They also deliver plenty of quality extras to keep going after the film. Grab this one when it hits your sweet spot on sale price.

This is a paid Amazon Associates link