NEWS RELEASE
MARIPOSA ARTS THEATRE
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Millions of readers have read Judy Blume’s award-winning coming of age novel Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret.
After years of resisting having her book made into a film, Blume relented and the result is as effervescent and refreshingly frank as its source. Mariposa Arts Theatre’s Film Nights is delighted to bring the film to Orillia audiences on Wednesday Nov. 8 for two screenings at Orillia Galaxy Cinemas, 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the door from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets cost $15 for general admission, $10 for students, cash only.
Set in the 1970s, the film reflects the tender, funny and at times very moving story of sixth grade student Margaret Simon as she struggles to deal with her coming adolescence and her questions about faith and religion.
When Margaret’s family moves from New York to New Jersey she joins a secret girls club whose members obsess in their meetings about body changes and boys. Margaret’s year-long school project is to study religion, which is another source of doubt for her. She claims not to believe in God, but prays regularly. She has no religious affiliation, being the daughter of a Jewish father and a Christian mother who have both left their faiths behind, but she is still searching for some connection to belief. Although the target audience is unquestionably mothers and daughters, the film has things to say to viewers of all genders and ages.
Directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, who previously wrote and directed The Age of Seventeen and co-produced by Judy Blume herself, the film combines a mix of relative newcomers and established actors like Rachel McAdams as Margaret’s mother and Kathy Bates as her grandmother. All the actors give outstanding performances.
Leonard Maltin sums up the movie this way: “As a critic, I hesitate to use the word ‘perfect’, but it is the first adjective that comes to mind. I feel justified in recommending it to anyone who wants to see an entertaining and thoroughly satisfying movie.”
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