Bridget Jones Movies

 I remember when Cameron Crowe was casting the female lead for Jerry Maguire in early 1996 there were stories of a lot of famous actresses such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Marisa Tomei, and Cameron Di being tested but Crowe was having a difficult time finding the perfect Dorothy.  Dorothy to some degree represents Crowe in the film and there is a character like her in all of his films.  Dorothy is strong but genuine and thoughtful and it is important that this character never loses this quality throughout the film.  When Rene Zellweger was casting I thought “who?”.  As I recall in the article that announced Zellweger’s casting Crowe said she was perfect and with Tom Cruise cast in the title role Crowe did not feel the need to cast a bigger name.  

Crowe’s choice paid off perfectly.  Zellweger is the heart of Jerry Maguire and though her character gets put through the wringer and makes mistakes throughout the story she never loses her sense of self.  Zellweger is very cute but looks and sounds like a real person with her freckles and slightly puffy lips and soft voice.  From that point on I watched to see what other choices she would make.  A few years later after making mostly interesting choices such as Nurse Betty and One True Thing with Meryl Street and William Hurt Zellweger, who is from Texas, was cast as the British title character in Bridget Jones Diary.

Bridget Jones Diary (2001)

I will acknowledge I have not read any of Helen Fielding’s novels so I can only rate these four films (to dates as of 2025) against themselves.  Bridget is introduced as a kind person who is a bit of a mess in large part because of how she lets people treat her.  Bridget makes a lot of bad decisions (she smokes and drinks and eats a lot of junk food and despite working in publishing reads a lot of trashy magazines) and has the desire to change but lacks the conviction to do so.  The normally slim Zellweger gained about 25 pounds so she still looks cute but is a little overweight which clearly impacts her confidence.  In the opening Christmas party scene Zellweger plays her awkwardness expertly as she tries to find something interesting to say to Colin Firth’s Mark Darcy and then when he insults her and it is clear Bridget overheard it instead of being angry she smiles and tries to make Mark and his mother feel at ease as she exits the room.  Also director Sharon Magurie includes a brief scene of the 31-year old Bridget being sexually harassed by a middle aged friend of her parents (he looks at her with lusty eyes and pinches her bottom) which showcases the humiliations women quietly endure (at that point in the story Bridget would not have had the confidence to confront him nor would her mother particularly likely had any helpful response to it for fear of losing her public standing). 

The remainder of the film focuses on Bridget’s work and love life and offers a showcase comedic role for Hugh Grant who for the past several years had been playing one bumbling romantic lead after another Four Weddings and a Funeral to Nine Months to Notting Hill.  Grant’s Daniel Cleaver is like Mal in Dangerous Liaisons, a womanizing yet charming (and often very funny) pig who sets his sights on Bridget (who against her best judgment starts dressing in messily provocative ways to get his attention).  Grants as usual delivers his lines quickly but his quips have an edge here and his shy look is replaced by territorial slyness (he moves in on Bridget at the launch party when he sees Darcy approaching her, later puts his arm around Bridget’s shoulder when Darcy is present as if they were still a couple even though he has not won her back yet.  Cleaver enjoys Jones’ company but she was always bound to get hurt by getting involved with a man like that.  The moment when Bridget catches him with a woman is well staged (Bridget catches Daniel glancing a woman’s coat on his coatrack indicating he is hiding someone). 

The logistics of Daniel’s affair do not really add up.  The day after Bridget catches him with (Amanda?) Daniel tells Bridget they are engaged.  Amanda? Is from the New York office but why would she be marrying Daniel when he has been with another woman who Amanda felt the need to hide from?  Perhaps Daniel’s engagement and the reason for it is more fleshed out in the book but here it feels superfluous and just another way to humiliate Bridget.

As presented we are often supposed to and do laugh at many of Bridget’s mishaps (dressing as a sexy bunny for a costume party when almost everyone else is dressed in normal clothes, awkwardly introducing her boss at a book launch, running on a snowy street half dressed) but we relate to her because like all of us her life is full is mistakes.  Yet Zellweger’s decency and joy of the character shine through and it is what draws us in.  Bridget represents normal people and her can-do spirit is inspirational while also being entertaining.

Maguire uses the titular diary less than expected.  Bridget’s narration represent her diary entries but I would guess there was originally much more of the diary in the film than ultimately used.  The entire final couple of scenes revolve around the threat to Bridget’s new relationship with Mark tat the diary caused but it would have resonated more if we had seen Bridget write some of her entries on Mark.  

Colin Firth as Mark Darcy is wonderful casting, though I must admit I never saw his version of Darcy in Pride and Prejudice (I have seen the 2005 version directed by Joe Wright which was wonderful).  Darcy is snobbish though his remarks about Bridget are probably more to keep his mother from trying to fix him up than representing his true feelings for her as he spends the rest of the film trying to make up for them.  I think Darcy is also a little shy and repressed and Bridget’s tendency to wear her heart on her sleeve really appeals to him.  When Darcy is with Bridget and away from his usual upper class snobs he seems more relaxed and uses funny curses.  Darcy also does the right thing a lot of the time but never seeks recognition for it.  

The fight between Darcy and Cleaver is the comic highlight of the film.  Firth and Grant play it exactly as two fit yet middle aged and upper middle class Englishmen who probably haven’t been in a fight ever with awkward kicks and hair pulling.  Cleaver, who is much nastier, predictably fights dirty, hitting Darcy from behind with the lid of a garbage can.  The restaurant adds some fun color to the proceedings as both men stop fighting to sing “Happy Birthday” for a customer and keep apologizing for the mess they are making..  Although in real life both men would have been arrested for disturbing the peace and perhaps more it is satisfying to see Cleaver come up on the wrong side of the fight.  Grant and Firth have had a lot of fun since this staging a fake public rivalry similar to that of Matt Damon and Jimmy Kimmel.  The best moment is a plaque Grant for BAFTA which states “In loving memory of Colin Firth. Not dead yet, but looks it. Sponsored by Hugh Grant."

The supporting cast includes Jim Broadbent who is touching and warm as Bridget’s dad, Colin, who is humiliated when his wife Pam, played as a bit of an airhead by Gemma Jones, runs off with the slimy host of a cheesy home shopping network type show played by Patrick Barlow.  Sally Phillips, Shirley Henderson, and James Callis play Bridget’s groups of friends, Shazzer (who rarely has a sentence without an f-bomb, Jude, who is a drama queen, and Tom, a onetime singer who has a different look in each film.  This group is there for Bridget throughout the entire series though their advice for Bridget is often questionable at best.

Maguire keeps the movie, set mostly in London though there are some scenes in the English countryside, moving quickly and uses a lot of memorable pop songs. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Out of Reach” are my favorites. 

Bridget Jones Diary could have been a perfectly fine one-off but fortunately Helen Fielding had plenty more Bridget stories to tell.  ****

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)

Bridget Jones gets a perfectly entertaining follow-up in this film that is more comic than sincere.  Beeban Kidron takes over and gives the film a much bigger opening, spoofing The Spy Who Loved Me’s opening stunt with Bridget parachuting into pig manure to the tune of “Nobody Does It Better” by Carly Simon (which was the theme song to The Spy Who Loved Me.”).  I feel it’s a little big for Bridget but as she is also a British icon like James Bond it works within the context of the film.

The plot of the film, which may or may not be a faithful adaptation, for the first half focuses on the aftermath of Bridget’s happily ever after with Mark Darcy.  They have been dating for a couple of months and start the film still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship.  However anytime Bridget joins Mark’s social circle she is wildly out of place.  Zellweger expertly plays Bridget’s confusion which feed her insecurity that perhaps she is not good enough for Mark.  Mark to his credit, never feels this way and as a result never catches on to her insecurity.  Mark is for quite awhile extremely understanding with Bridget but she also spends a lot more time in his world than he does in hers so he never has to make the same adjustment.  Firth as always makes Darcy’s English stillness interesting through curious looks and an occasional clipped line delivery when he is aggravated.  

The filmmakers add a red herring with Rebecca, Mark’s new elegant coworker played by Jacinda Barrett.  Rebecca’s warm attitude toward Mark is never romantic but Bridget always looks at a moment that preys on her insecurities, which after what happened with Daniel Cleaver in the last film are understandable.  Bridget’s friends’ attempts to be helpful only feed her confusion.  

Bridget’s breakup with Mark at the film’s midpoint bothered me since he clearly still loved her dearly and could not figure out what he was doing wrong.  But, although she did not realize it yet, Bridget needed to work through her own issues and remember that Mark loved her “just as she is”.  Mark perhaps could have saved the relationship but asking Bridget why she thought he was having an affair with Rebecca but instead he was insulted and refused to give credence to something that in his mind had no place.

This breakup sets the entry point for the return of Hugh Grant’s rakish Daniel Cleaver, though he had been at the sidelines of the film waiting to take center stage.  The first moment Bridget sees Cleaver, she tries to be nasty to him but when Cleaver compliments her skirt, she cannot help but be charmed by it.  Cleaver has unbelievably left his senior publishing job to host a travel program at Bridget’s studio, but this development allows us to see Cleaver in a new setting as he plays into his personality with lines like “When in Rome, do a Roman.”

The Edge of Reason does what a lot of comedy sequels do and switches locations for about a half hour of its running time and sends Bridget, with Shazzer and Daniel, to Thailand.  Bridget once again starts to falls for Cleaver’s charms when his true nature surfaces in a hilarious yet unexpected way (he has been making use of “special services” at the hotel and then subtly tries to nudge Bridget into a threesome.  

The biggest twist in this section of the film is Bridget’s stay in a Thai jail after she and Shazzer make the mistake of taking an item from an unknown person at the airport which turns out to contain drugs.  Bridget, however, delightfully turns the women’s jail into a joyous place where the women (who for the purposes of the film, all speak Enlighs) all sing Madonna and engage in fun girl talk which gives Bridget perspective on Mark.

Mark’s surprise appearance is utterly in character.  Mark loves her and probably would not have been able to stop himself from working to get her released if he had wanted to but he is cold to her as he thinks she went to bed with Cleaver which is the one thing that could prevent him from ever getting back with her.  Firth plays Mark as determined yet eager to distance himself from her emotionally, not wanting to take credit for all he did for her.  Kidron gets the tone of this scene right when we feel relieved as Bridget is when she sees Mark as we know he is sharp and as an international human rights barrister would know how to work through the Thai legal system in ways other Westerners would not, but also put off by his cold manner (he may only have decided to see her instead of sending a messenger to stick it to her about Cleaver). 

Mark does not leave it there though as he goes to confront Cleaver not so much for possibly seducing Bridget, but for doing nothing when he saw Bridget get arrested.  The subsequent fight is less violent than the one in the first film but no less funny as Cleaver runs away and then two end up in a fountain fighting even more ineptly than before.  Grant has one of his best moments when he expresses his disbelief that Mark wants to fight him again, claiming how outdated the whole thing is.

Shazzer also appeared to run from the problem (which was really hers because she had given Bridget the item) but it turns out she was the one to inform Mark and she knew he could help.  The sequence in which Shazzer, Jude, and Tom each speak in turn of Mark’s efforts show that while they doubted him earlier, they realize how good Mark is for Bridget.

The climax has Bridget once again on a dash to reconcile with Mark and the sequence is full of pop songs and is a little forced but Bridget’s clumsiness is always entertaining.  Bridget once again nearly blows her reconciliation with a glib remark about marriage but Mark can never turn her away.

Ultimately Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason is fun but a little unnecessary.  Bridget grew a little but remains a hot mess.  I am not sure a film was needed to tell this story but it is always fun to see her and her supporting characters.  ***

Bridget Jones’ Baby (2016) 

The third Bridget Jones film was first announced around 2009 but for years I doubted whether it would ever come to fruition.  I remember the plot discussed was around Bridget and Mark having a baby but so many years passed I wondered if they might age out of it.  I recall Colin Firth stating in an interview that one idea was that Bridget might have to go back to Daniel Cleaver as a sperm donor.  I thought that would work better as a Saturday Night Live sketch than an idea for a film.  If Bridget were to voluntarily get tangled up with Cleaver again it would be really hard to continue routing for her.  

Hugh Grant may have solved the problem himself by dropping out of the film which opened the door to tell other stories about Bridget.  Emma Thompson came onboard as a screenwriter and polished up a script by ………. Sharon Maguire, the director of Bridget Jones’ Diary returned to direct the film.

In September 2015 a shot was released to Instagram announcing the start of production.  The shot included Rene Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Patrick Dempsey.  I had little idea of the plot and did not try to guess Dempsey’s role, but the first thing I noticed was Zellweger had not gained weight this time.  My guess for the behind the scenes reason it might be a little dangerous for Zellweger, now in her mid forties, to put on that much weight.  The in-film reason is Bridget has grown up a little and among other things is now going to spinning although we never see her eating healthy (in fact her gynecologist-played by Thompson in a very witty performance) suggests she lay off Pringles.

A couple of months before the film’s fall 2016 release Universal put out a trailer which revealed the outlines of the story: Bridget and Mark and long broken up.  Bridget has a hot one night stand with Jack Quant (played by Dempsey) and soon afterwards has another one with Mark and gets pregnant but does not know which one is the father.

I was a little annoyed as I felt two Bridget Jones films had stretched out establishing and defining Bridget’s relationship with Mark only to break them up again, which made me not want to care about their relationship.  For this reason I waited for it to come out on blu-ray instead of going to the cinema as I did for the first two.  When it did I mostly found it to be very enjoyable and like the first one balances character growth with entertainment.  The song selections are my favorites in the ser

Bridget is alone on her birthday but actually has a pretty full life between her old group of friends and some younger ones, especially Miranda played by Sarah Solemani.  Maguire shows Bridget changing the song “All by Myself” which she sang in the first film to “Jump Around” by House of Pain.  I personally don’t care for the song but it shows that Bridget has adapted to a new world and most importantly is not happy or sad depending on being with a man.   Bridget is now a TV producer at a sensationalistic news show and seems to be good at it though she does have her occasional screw ups.  

The Daniel Cleaver funeral explains Hugh Grant’s absence, though a picture in a newspaper  showing he has been found alive at the film’s close feels like an afterthought.  If the plan was always to keep Cleaver alive then why have a funeral?  He could be offscreen if Bridget just isn’t working with him anymore.  However the scene is funny and most importantly shows that Bridget has no hard feelings for him even though Cleaver hurt her more than once.  Mark’s presence at the funeral brings him into the story, and shows that he also moved on after things ended with Bridget.  Additionally it speaks to his character since while they were once friends obviously there was a lot of loathing between Mark and Cleaver.

The festival sequence has a typical Bridget pratfall and introduces us to Jack Qwant (presumably not his real name).  There is a cut scene in which Bridget inadvertently goes into one his presentations on matchmaking via algorithms but in the deleted scenes it did not play well. As it is though their pairing feels a little contrived but it is in line with Miranda’s goal to give Bridget a good time.  I laughed very hard at the moment when the women do not recognize Ed Sheeran, in a cameo as himself.  Sheeran seems all too eager to make fun of himself both here and even more so in the film Yesterday.  Bridget and Jack’s love scene plays nicely to Sheeran performing “Thinking Out Loud”.

I felt for Jack in the moment where he brings Bridget breakfast only to find that she has left, in part because she woke up and found him gone.  While Bridget had been attracted to Jack until she finds out she is pregnant she clearly took Jack to be a one-night stand and did not feel awkward about it.

Bridget’s reconnection with Mark at a christening is more awkward initially and is notable for Mark’s atypical aggressive pursuit of Bridget.  Interestingly while the film in flashbacks shows why they broke up five years earlier, it never addresses that they never married even thought they were engaged at the end of The Edge of Reason.  As 12 years have passed were Bridget and Mark engaged for seven years?

Bridget and Mark’s sexy night is scored to “Reignite” by Knox Brown x Gallant that has a chill vibe and the  lyrics perfectly match their feelings, especially Mark’s.  Mark has just separated from his second wife and it appears it may be because he never got over Bridget.  Now he is free to pursue her again and does not waste a second.  Mark’s declaration to Bridget that he’s missed her both speaks to the audience and to his feelings, which need not be repressed.  Bridget’s honest letter to him is a form of self preservation against getting hurt if they got involved again but Mark probably was hoping it was the start of a new beginning.  Notably from here until the end of the second act, Mark is his usual repressed self, (Firth has a lovely moment when Bridget tells Mark she is pregnant he leaves the room to have a (presumably joyful) reaction that we never see.  He does not want to be too vulnerable in front of Bridget again.  

After the first Bridget Jones film I started paying close attention to Colin Firth’s work and in the years between the second and third films he gave some phenomenal performances in very different films such as A Single Man, The King’s Speech, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Kingsmen.  It would be easy to pin down a Colin Firth type as a stuffy businessman who is a little impatient but a closer look at his CV shows an actor of vast talents who constantly challenges himself to develop his craft.

The second act of the film has some funny beats as Bridget discovers her pregnancy and awkwardly tells both potential fathers and deals with the comic yet witty awkwardness of Emma Thompson’s gynecologist.  Thompson is an especially delightful addition to the series (and her role is wisely continued in the next film) and as her character is about ten years older than Bridget comes to serve as a kind of big sister/mentor.  

“We Are Family” is used as a montage as both Jack and Mark attend Lamaze classes with Bridget and Jack always manages to work himself into a favorable position over Mark.  There are little hints in the outcome such as when Bridget feels pains and tries to reach Mark before calling Jack.  Dempsey is funny in the scenes where he pretends that Jack and Mark are a gay couple and Bridget is their surrogate, though he is mostly doing it to get under Mark’s skin.  Jack is clearly a competitive guy (which has probably helped him become successful) and his new age American persona plays nicely off Mark’s older stuffy Brit.  We never learn why Jack lives in England but perhaps it is because his product can more more of an impact there.  Although Mark is supposed to only be four years older than Bridget who is 43 in the film (Zellweger was 46) Firth is actually nine years older than Zellweger and looks every day of his 55 years when he shot the film. 

A flashback between the events of the second and third film reveal that Bridget and Mark broke up at least in part due to Mark prioritizing work over their relationship often leaving Bridget feeling alone.  Therefore in one moment when Bridget feels pains and rushes to the hospital she impulsively calls Mark first (hinting at her choice later) and when he is not available she calls Jack who goes with her.  Sadly Mark clearly headed over as soon as he heard but it was too late.  

Jack takes advantage of this and in his most selfish move, claims to have been unprotected when he and Bridget had sex, which drives Mark away which hurts Bridget greatly as she is charmed by Jack but doesn’t love him, but knows that Mark loves her.  This leads to an interesting scene in which Jack is helping to paint the nursery in Bridget’s apartment but at the same time trying to convince Bridget to move in with him.  As he realizes her hesitation Jack comes clean and admits that he lied to Mark which reveals Bridget’s true heart as she goes running to Mark’s flat immediately.  Craig Armstrong’s score plays off Bridget’s desperation and then sadness as she sees his ex-wife arrive and misreads the situation.  Maguire can’t bring the couple together just yet.

Jack is the third point of the love triangle in this film, essentially taking the Daniel Cleaver role from the past two films, but Bridget Jones’ Baby came out enough after The Edge of Reason that I did not compare him to Cleaver.  Dempsey wisely creates his own role and while he is a little manipulative he does appear to truly care for Bridget.  Dempsey has nowhere near Grant’s level of wit but his character works fine on his own terms though I would have liked to learn more about Jack. 

Annie Lennox sad song “The Hurting Time” plays to great effect at the end of the second act after Bridget comically messes up an interview and then quits before she is fired and her life ends up in a tailspin again.  While we are glad to see Bridget leave the place it is a bad time to be a single mother (though both potential fathers are successful and would surely eagerly support for their child).  Maguire picks this moment to cut to Mark seeing his old sweater and the flashbacks to the first film remind us how long Mark has loved Bridget.  There are many shots in the series of Mark walking down the street carrying a briefcase but none so welcome as here when he has decided to pursue Bridget regardless of Jack’s comments and helps her get into her home.  While it may seem out of character for Mark to break a pane of glass to help Bridget into her flat Mark has repeatedly shown to act impulsively when Bridget needs him.  

The scene in Bridget’s flat is both touching and comic.  The timing of Bridget’s water breaking as they are about reconcile might be predictable but is built as the first in a series of laughs due to the timing and commitment of the actors.  Mark’s disposing of the phone should be a grand romantic gesture but it causes them an immediate problem and has a funny button when we hear but do not see the reaction of someone who was clearly hit by the phone.  

The trip to the hospital is probably the funniest sequence in any of the films.  As in The Edge of Reason Bridget is trying to get across London and goes through various stops but Maguire builds a far more successful sequence due to the higher stakes (in The Edge of Reason Bridget could just call Mark) and all the lead characters’ involvement.  The idea of Mark delivering.a pizza along with the parody of the end of An Officer and a Gentlmen but Mark’s grand gesture of carrying the heavily pregnant Bridget ends up being about as macho as his fights with Cleaver.  I particularly liked his idea of walking and resting and the two actors are in complete sync.  For fans of Jack, he makes a heroic entrance on his motorcycle and takes Bridget from Mark in a clear attempt to upstage him but it only lasts a few steps.  Maguire stages this in a single take which makes the desperation feel even funnier.  The revolving door and the mishaps of the three trying to get through it trying to maneuver how they can both carry Bridget (the men are exhausted and Bridget is in pain) is the perfect climax to the scene (hospitals usually have automatic doors for these situations) which caps off when the men plop Bridget on the counter.  

The delivery scenes where Bridget are touching if a little less funny.  Bridget inadvertently hurting both men is a little forced but the instinctual moment where Bridget chooses Mark is sweet as is Mark’s reaction to finally expressing his love for Bridget but also conveying that he is sensitive to Jack’s feelings through a sympathetic but not pitying look.  As an audience we do believe that Mark and Bridget are now on for good.

Emma Thompson has a very funny reason for both men to leave the room for the actual delivery.  This struck me as curious as fathers are nowadays traditionally in the delivery room (I certainly was for the birth of my kids and you couldn’t have kept me out).  But the reasoning might have been that since one of them was not the actual father perhaps it might be more appropriate for neither to be present.   The two men reach a peace and the entire supporting cast comes into Bridget’s room, but Maguire and I suspect Thompson all complain about the same march that delayed traffic (and held up Bridget and the two men from getting to the hospital).  Firth is funny as an exhausted Mark keeps trying to justify the march but each time it falls on increasingly deaf ears.

Maguire stages the wedding in warm colors as a radiant Bridgets is walked down the aisle by her father (again Jim Broadbent who has a smaller role this time out).  The filmmakers try to pull a trick on us showing Jack holding William as if he were the groom but I knew she was marrying Mark based in part on where Jack was standing (to Bridget’s right where the groom would be) and also the fact that the film had just spend the last 20 minutes or so having Bridget and Mark recommit to each other.  Sure enough Mark appears in frame as Bridget reaches the altar and the smile between them feels completely earned as they finally become husband and wife. I did suspect that Jack was Williams’s father but this was quickly corrected by one line of teasing dialogue humorously delivered by Firth.  Clearly they are all friends now.  In Bridget’s world even a jilted lover will still be her friend.  

The staging of the final moment is key to defining where Bridget is in her life.  She is beaming, now happily committed to Mark, but is walking alone with her son, happy to be married to her love but also happy with herself.  When her hat flies off in a very Bridget like event she just goes with it.  The closing song “Still Falling For You” captures the love and complexity of Bridget and Mark’s relationship in its optimistic tone and honest lyrics.

Bridget Jones’ Baby was a delightful film that moved the characters forward.  I felt if they closed out the series here it would be a fitting trilogy but I was also aware there was another Fielding book that dealt with a dark event.  Time would tell if it would be filmed or not. ****

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (2025)

The publicity for the book had revealed that Mark Darcy had died so when I saw the trailer for this film with Mark Darcy appearing in the opening moments I thought maybe the story had changed until it is quickly revealed that he is a figment of Bridget’s imagination that she calls on when she needs him.  

I will say upfront I think this is the best film of the series because it feels like it comes from a very honest place.  Helen Fielding’s husband died unexpectedly and she was left to raise her two kids alone.  She processed her grief by putting her fictional character through the same situation.  As I mentioned before I have not read the books but in the film I saw a story about healing.

Rene Zelleweger returns for her fourth turn as Bridget, now in her early fifties (but still looking great) and the rest of the supporting cast all appear (minus the kids who were a big part of their lives, especially Jude’s) in the last film, in various roles with three new key additions.  Chiwetel Ejiorfor as Mr. Wallaker, a teacher at Bridget’s kids’ privste school, Leo Woodall as Roxster, a younger man Bridget has a fling with, and Leila Farzad as Nicollette, a nasty mother at Bridget’s kids school who has a philandering husband and uses it to punch down.  Also new is Nico Parker as Chloe Bridget’s new perfect nanny.  Casper Knopf and Mila Jankovic play Bridget’s kids William and Mabel.  For me the most welcome is the return of Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver, now in his 60s, who now has a warm friendship with Bridget.  As before Cleaver’s main trick with Bridget is to try to make her laugh and he is a kind of uncle for Bridget and her family.   Just about every second line of Cleaver’s had me roaring with laughter because it is so lived in (“I am imminent Jones, imminent”) indicating he is about to arrive when in fact he is just leaving to meet her, typical of a charming scoundrel.  Gemma Jones returns as Bridget’s mother, now also widowed and living in a senior facility, but still delightfully dotty.  Jim Broadbent appears in a quick flashback right before his character Colin’s death (but clearly after Mark’s) laying out the theme of the film.  He gives the Bridget the key to getting past her grief which is to live instead of just surviving which turns out to be far more useful than the other well meaning but contradictory advice her friends had given her.

The film has a new series director, Michael Morris and this time Helen Fielding herself is one of the scriptwriterrs.  The opening sequence sets the stage by showing us where Bridget is at and when the credits roll, a good 20-25 minutes into the film we know what the goal is, Bridget learning to embrace life under her new circumstances. 

The opening scenes, showing Bridget as a harried mother trying to control her nice but active young children is an example of life not stopping when tragedy strikes, even though it has now been four years.  Zellweger is heartbreaking in these scenes.  Bridget is trying to be cheerful for those around her but her smile is a lot more muted.  When she goes to the dinner party, painfully alone with a group of couples she is trying to be polite for the benefit of others telling her how to live and you can see the grief behind her eyes.  When she conjures up Mark it is to feel him beside her to give her strength for the party.  However do people really hold dinner parties to celebrate the life of someone four years after their death?  i can see immediate family doing so but not an extended community that many years later.

It saddens me to think that after their happy wedding Bridget and Mark, who took so long to get married and had so many obstacles to get down the aisle, only had a few years of happy life together.  To be honest the years of toddlers are some of the most trying and since Mable is about six, Mark would have been killed when she was two so she would not remember her dad much.

The few times Colin Firth appears he looks his real age (about 63 during shooting) but the news broadcast says he died at age 55.  Either Bridget is imagining Mark how he would have aged or those few years of marriage took a real toll on Mark.

Hugh Grant enters the film very early inserting countless hilarious lines referencing his and Bridget’s old sex life, and claiming “I am imminent Jones, imminent” when he is only just leaving to meet her and prioritizing babysitting her kids over a night listening to his latest model girlfriend recite some boring prose.  The decision to move Cleaver and Bridget’s relationship into a dependable friendship feels utterly in character.  Cleaver cared enough for Bridget that he would want to make amends and Bridget would rather love than hate though she is not foolish enough to fall for him again (though I sensed that Cleaver wouldn’t say no if Bridget invited him to her bed).  Grant’s humor livens the early section considerably though he has some lived in pain that he tries to brush off (he hasn’t seen his son for years).  He awkwardly note show hard this is for Bridget but more than anything is just there for her and makes her laugh which is the best present a friend could offer.  Grant has grown a lot as an actor since he last played Cleaver in 2004 and it’s nice to see him bring this additional depth to this aging playboy.  Later Cleaver has a medical scare that leads Bridget to encourage him to make amends with his son.

At the end of the sequence Bridget remembers her moment with her father and the credits roll and Morris shows her decision to embrace life by dancing high on the bed with her kids.  Bridget is not over Mark yet but is ready to move past the grieveing stage.

Isla Fisher has what I sense is a heavily cut down role as a tyrannical neighboring mother who Bridget and her kids bond over watching.  She only appears in one scene and has a similar cut scene on the DVD but I imagine there was a plan to do more with her character.

From here the film follows the template of the first film.  Bridget meets two potential suitors.  As in the first one is a lot of fun (and Bridget makes him work hard to earn that first date) but incapable of the commitment and leaves Bridget, hurting her badly, but later tries to return and is gently rebuffed by Bridget.  The second is repressed and initially outwardly rude but time in Bridget’s company brings out his better nature and by the end of the film Bridget chases him down in the snow and they romantically connect and are happy together at the end of the film.  

However there are manny other elements.  Bridget is now finally out of her London flat (it would not have been right for a family of four.  Bridget has been away from work since Mark’s death and is a recognized TV producer.  Presumably Mark’s savings and her being a beneficiary of his life insurance has given her the financial freedom to work or not.  She has no problem affording the kids private school and Chloe’s services when she goes back to work which is also probably a well paid position.  When she does go back she is largely free of the Bridget type screw ups and looks in full control of her craft (which there were glimpses of the past film).  

Woodhall has some tenderness as Roxster (is it supposed to stand for “Rock star”?) and he even repeats a move that Jack pulled in the previous film, taking off his shirt to perform a rescue in a pool (this time to help a small dog instead of Bridget herself).  Bridget enjoys toying with him both making him wait for a date and then teases him about her age, pretending to be a few years older when she is really over 20.  For awhile this seems to not be an issue but just when things seem at their peak Roxster ghosts Bridget.  This hurts Bridget but she on some level knew the relationship was a fantasy.  When she rejects Roxster later it is not to get even but because she knows that it is not right for either of them. 

Over the film’s second hour Bridget and Mr. Wallaker start getting closer.  Mr. Wallaker has some control issues but once Bridget challenges one of his beliefs in a respectful way he starts to change a little.  At the beginning of the story it would have been impossible to imagine them finding common ground but Morris unhurriedly draws them together by showing Bridget getting to a point of letting Mark go by sending balloons and cards to him in the sky on his birthday and Mr. Wallaker loosen up and look to connect with Bridget and William.  Wallaker’s touching gesture of helping William sing ….  As a way to keep his father’s memory alive in a healthy way (and smiling broadly as he does it) brings Is clearly designed in the plot of bringing him and Bridget together but it feels natural and it works as a wonderful surprise for Bridget.  

Right before the concert there is a nice moment of Bridget and Mabel stopping to pick up some sweets in a neat moment that easily could have been cut but it shows firstly that Bridget is in a good place and she is also a fun and now confident mom.  

The closing New Year’s party brings all the characters together, including the rude mom at William and Mabel’s school which struck me as odd until I saw the deleted scenes where includes a sequence in which Bridget befriends her after she catches her husband in an affair.  I see why it was dropped as it would have added to several minutes to a run time that is already over two hours, but its presence in the deleted scenes gives needed context.  Cleaver has reconciled with his son and the boy appears to be a chip off the old block, and Mr. Wallaker (now Scott) has integrated himself comfortably into the family.  Hugh Grant has a couple of final funny moments (especially when he pinches Bridget’s mom’s butt) to show that he is still a cad.  I would encourage anyone grieving to watch this film as it shows a healthy way of processing grief.  Mark is not, nor never will be forgotten, but his family is in a good place and no longer needs a white owl (a kind of angelic aviator for Mark) to watch over them.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is a touching film that possibly closes out Bridget’s story.  She has come a long way from the singleton who worried about being eaten by dogs.  Bridget has kept her friends and made peace with those who have troubled her and thus lives a less burdened life full of optimism.  We could all stand to learn from her.  ****