Bridget Jones’s Diary
Like most people who view her , I have it away Bridget Jones . I fear , at time , that I am her . And the fact that I am a heavy - set world slumping towards middle historic period who has as much desire to be a pro in London as I do to lodge red-hot pin down my finger nail should speak to the eternal genius of the movie . Yes , Bridget Jones : The Edge Of Reasonwas a bit of a spate , actually , but before the series took a wayward turning into too much slapstick , the original , Bridget Jones ’s Diary , remains agem of British comedy .
With the fourth adventure ( or mischance ) in Bridget ’s steadfast marching music through the major milestone of life sentence now here , and research release and moving on , it seems appropriate to return to where it all began . Almost a quarter of a 100 ago , Renée Zellweger fall in the ranks of unexpected ( perhaps even polemically ) cast actors who did n’t quite seem to fit the bill . She was , and is , after all , an American : something so painfully at odds with Jones ' whole ethos that some people just did n’t see it .
But Zellweger immediately claim the character for herself , transforming her aspect ( a unearthly notion , since she just sort of made herself looknormal ) , and take a very convincing English dialect that cease up only being a pocket-size part of why her performance is so proficient . And without want to make a stand , here , I think we need to be a spot kinder to Bridget Jones .
Bridget Jones’s Diary Is A Thoroughly Convincing Look At The Silly Magic Of Romance
Clichés Aren’t Always A Bad Thing
RewatchingBridget Jones ’s Diaryin 2025 , you could study Mark Darcy ’s intoxicatingly perfect " I like you very much , just as you are " as a veiled insult to her perceived physical imperfections , but I conceive that ’s a disingenuous misreading . BecauseBridget , inconceivable insecurities and all , is just a f*ck up , and her tumbling awe of rejection is rooted a peck more in the fact that she ’s a little bite too much like Mr Bean , than what she registers on the scales .
Even with the ringing word of advice aboutBridget Jones ’s Diaryclattering aloud in the background somewhere , when he say that , and when he struggle Grant ’s Daniel Cleaver for her honor , I ’m afraid I still get a bit giddy . Because Bridget is a romantic too , and it is n’t a crime to fantasy that sort of happiness for her . St. Bridget is a bit of an injured baby bird , and while far cleverer mass than me might say her journey is rote , or clichéd , or unsafe , I still find it curiously … warming .
Bridget Jones ’s Diaryis funny , and heartfelt , and a little fleck sorry at times , but it ’s very adorable and very uplifting by its last , and for all its quirkiness , that makes it delightfully rewarding as a comfort rewatch .
Renée Zellweger’s Performance Is Very Endearing (And So Is Everyone Else)
The Controversial Casting Of An American Paid Off
Hugh Grant is delightful as the epitome sh*tbag that he would later adopt for further nefarious roles . He comes across as a massive male chauvinist , and a good reprehensible peril , but that is n’t exactly a gotcha , given it ’s exactly how he ’s supposed to be present . Grant ’s floppy - haired malevolence is a wonderfully convincing touch , and when he gets his comeuppance ( not from Mark Darcy ’s weak - wristed biff , but from Bridget ’s humiliating rejection of him ) , it ’s a inferno of a moment .
Colin Firth capture Mark Darcy ’s blend of pompous and heartfelt in the way only the gentleman’s gentleman who trifle the most memorable adaptation of the other Mr Darcy could have manage . He ’s a bit of an enigma throughout , and Firth does very well to stay stoical , in good order up until you get the light sense of his own brand of shenanigan .
Elsewhere , Jim Broadbent is a utterly observed portraiture of a defeated aging man who just wants an loose spirit , and his wife ( Gemma Jones ) is a matriarchal tyrant who manages to just remain rum enough . Everyone fiddle a - mostly - gentle imitation of Britishness : down to the steep gay upright admirer , the girlfriends who doll out financial support and mockery in equal measure , the toxic coworkers , the overbearing but well - meaning female parent … They ’re adept because they ’re recognisable versions of multitude most people get laid .
Based on the novel by Helen Fielding, the rom-com Bridget Jones’s Diary revolves around a 32-year-old single woman who keeps a diary of her life and romantic encounters. Starring Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant, the 2001 movie was a massive commercial and critical success.
Is Bridget Jones’s Diary Toxic? Probably A Bit, But Does That Ruin It?
Discourse Has A Way Of Distracting
LikeLove , in reality , Bridget Jones ’s Diaryhas faced cultural reconsideration since its liberation thanks to the focus on Bridget ’s weight . Writer Richard Curtis has go as far as to apologise for the fat - shaming ( as well as a lack of diversity in his cast ) , and time have move on . On reflection , and as someone who readHelen Fielding ’s original books , I would suggestit ’s impossible to separate the film ’s lurid focus on her physical appearance from Bridget ’s own obsessive , entirely misplaced judgement of her weighting . But at the same time , the film does n’t really pause to look into why she ’s like that .
I ’ll mostly leave the sermon to the hundreds of article strewn across the Internet predicate not only the movie toxic , but - perhaps a little too harshly - Bridget herself . This is a movie review , not a context recapitulation . And in the motion picture , Renée Zellweger ’s character is a dupe of herself first and first , and does not come across as a flagbearer for any grounds other than hopeless , disheveled romantics .
The Bridget Jones moving picture , based on Helen Fielding ’s best - deal novels , are some of the just read-only storage - coms – so which one takes the top smirch ?
I actually chance the film a somewhat quaint take - down of dieting culture , workplace misogyny , single - bashing , and all the things that have driven that discourse , but at the same time , recognize there is a far more dangerous side to the film ’s choices ( along with the books before it ) that does n’t belong to to me . The melodic theme that a romantic endgame being all - cover is somehow unambiguously characteristic ofBridget Jones ’s Diary , however , ignores basically a hundred year of Latinian language story - telling . So let ’s not commingle the two .
Final Thoughts On Bridget Jones’s Diary
Bridget Jones ’s Diaryis one of the most beloved British comedies of all meter , but popularity does n’t always dictate calibre . It ’s not a particularly ambitious film , but it has its roots in golden old age love story , with an edge of cynicism , and half an eye on Jane Austen ’s deeds , and it all process very well . It still makes me express mirth , Hugh Grant ’s carrying out still feels deliriously gamy ( as all of his nefarious turn do ) .
Yes , there are yikes moments , like Bridget saying her 9 stone weight is indication of a"terrifying sliding board into obesity,“but there are curiously few mentions of her system of weights that are n’t very consciously presented as points of her own neurosis . And yes , her second of epiphany come because a man gives validation to the image of her that she is tragically incapable of view , but it ’s not because she followed any of the golden normal she supposes would ensnare her the perfect man and avoid a life of die out alone , deplete by Alsatians . She did the reverse , and her have a go at it her , just as she was .
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free-base on the novel by Helen Fielding , the rom - com Bridget Jones ’s Diary revolves around a 32 - twelvemonth - old single woman who keeps a journal of her life and romantic encounters . star Renée Zellweger , Colin Firth , and Hugh Grant , the 2001 flick was a monumental commercial and critical winner .
