A documentary portrait of a literary icon whose books continue to speak to young people with honesty and respect, JudyBlumeForever is a wonderful encapsulation of the story behind the stories. Our review:
If the past week has shown us anything, there is a distinct value to a documentary like Judy Blume Forever letting the iconic American author speak in her own words. While a work like this could easily fall into being just a rote recounting of her life and career, it manages to bring a greater texture to the experience. Though certainly not as groundbreaking as the author herself, it more than gets the job done in both profiling her and discussing the vast impact her work has had.
COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Whether it is getting to hear from a man on the beach who shouts excitedly about Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, one of her many outstanding children’s books that the documentary explores the underpinnings of, or the many young people that have sent her letters over the years, there is a real tenderness to the experience.
This is where directors Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok avoid the trappings that many other films like this fall into. Even as there are some moments where celebrity figures interject a bit too much in what feels like a way to get their star power at the expense of more time with authors, there is still a proper balance that it manages to strike. It ensures that we come to learn not just about the way Blume approached her books, but how their impact has continued to echo into the present day.
The tragedy is that there are still those that seek to ban her books and works by others that speak directly to the experience of kids. The film doesn’t fully tackle the intricacies of this issue, as it is, unfortunately, expanding and changing, though it smartly gives plenty of room to Blume for her to reflect on her own experiences with hateful censorship.
With all that being said, the most engaging parts come in moments that feel less structured and constrained by the trajectory of wanting to hit every point in her past. As Blume goes back through all the old letters she exchanges with young people and we hear from those very same people, including one whose graduation she attended, it increasingly grabs hold of the heart. It never feels cloying or sentimental for the sake of being so.
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