‘BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY’ (2001): A BRITISH ROMANCE WITH EDGE
A popular favorite for many years now, Bridget Jones’s Diary presents a kind of “messy” portrait we’re meant to relate to.
Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) Film Review
In her thirty-second year, Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) is repeating patterns and she’s not sure it’s okay anymore. She messes up everything in her pursuit of making bad choices, from smoking to the guys she goes on dates with. Another bad choice is her massive crush on her boss Daniel (Hugh Grant) with whom she begins to share flirty messages. Then there’s her mother (Gemma Jones), a woman who has a set up for Bridget with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), a man she knew as a child.
When Bridget’s plans for a brilliant start to the new year go array including keeping a diary where she’ll always tell the truth. Instead, all of her goals fail, and she makes repeat mistakes. This forces her to make choices and decide what it is she really wants…
FILM REVIEW | ‘THIS TIME NEXT YEAR’ IS A CHARMING BRITISH ROM-COM ABOUT FATE
‘BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY’ (2001): A BRITISH ROMANCE WITH EDGE. See #ColinFirth play #MrDracy for the second time in #BridgetJonesDiary! #ReneeZellweger plays Bridget in #British #romance (that has an edge)! Share on X
When it comes to this film, believe it or not, I’ve actually never seen Bridget Jones’s Diary. It’s a film that I should have seen based on the fact that I love cheerful romantic movies. This said, having seen the movie (this so I don’t feel totally out of the loop with my content tomorrow), I can say it’s not a favorite. It’s cute, but really not a movie that I’m sorry to just be seeing. I like Bridget as a heroine but also find her rather infuriating. A notion I realize many find about the cinematic heroines I do like.
In several ways I think Bridget is darling. We can relate to her in her awkward moments because even if we haven’t done the things she has, none of us are strangers to feeling awkwardness in some moments. In other, she infuriates me because she doesn’t learn from mistakes; I did love her “big scene” telling off someone and that she goes all in with her new job. The ending is also quite sweet. Plus, we get to see Colin Firth in another role with the surname of Darcy, so that’s a plus. (This film does have Pride and Prejudice elements, yes.)
If you like romance movies, then you may enjoy Bridget Jones’s Diary. For me it doesn’t always work but I’m glad to finally see it. Based on what I’ve read about the sequels, I don’t really think I care to see the movies in between. While I’m sure they add depth and emotion to the romance or characters, it’s like the movies seem to repeat the same plot lines which is why I may say a kind “pass,” and enjoy this film as it is which also at least shows us a happy ending.
Stream, at publication, Bridget Jones’s Diary on Max; or digitally rent/purchase on places like Prime Video
Photos: Alamy
Content: this one has lots of adult content which fits the need for an R-rating. There are multiple uses of the f-word and there is a sex scene or two including one that shows the couple in bed post-sex (half-naked) and pre has them talking about underwear and him pulling up her dress and running his hands over her legs. We see another scene (its brief) of a couple nude having sex on the floor. There is lots of kissing (a man feels up a woman’s butt) and a married woman has an affair. Other sexual remarks are used (someone comments on a man being a pervert and always looking at her breasts). There are many other profanities like bitch, bastard and lots of British slang/profanity. Mainly the rating is for profanity.
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