Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones's Diary is a surprisingly good movie. Detractors who deride it for its admittedly minimalist plot miss the point - this is a film that shows life without the layers of artificiality favoured by directors (resulting in movies somehow removed from the realm of the everyday in which us mere mortals dwell). Life is frequently aimless and trivial; and therein lies the movie's attraction. Notwithstanding of course that this is a very funny and highly original comedy.

Bridget (played with considerable aplomb by Renee Zellweger) belongs to the ranks of that modern phenomenon - the over-30, unmarried career woman. Just when it seems Bridget may be destined for terminal spinster-hood, two opposing forces enter her life - charming cad Daniel, and uptight (but very sexy) lawyer Mark. Which of the two is her Mr. Right? And why does everyone insist on asking that question detested by all singletons - "How's your love life going?" The movie's conclusion is predictable, and although any other ending would leave the audience feeling cheated, it does seem somewhat tame and ultimately unsatisfying.

The film encourages the viewer both to get involved with Bridget emotionally and to laugh at her at the same time. Perhaps the best joke is the milieu inhabited by her parents - where the mini-gherkin is the height of sophistication, and 60-year-olds throw garden parties with such alarming themes as 'tarts and vicars'. Bridget is certainly no social butterfly, and whilst we cringe at her public embarrassments (notably her TV report involving a fireman's pole and a bottom the size of Brazil), we triumph with her when she manages to turn a bad situation to her advantage. Maybe we can recognise a little bit of Bridget Jones in all of us.

This film I only discovered fairly recently, and just absolutely fell in love with it. It sure seemed familiar and lo and behold then I read about the Pride and Prejudice connection and then it all made complete sense.

This is such a charming, lovely homage to Pride and Prejudice. The three lead characters are just perfect. It is funny, sweet at times, sad at others, and just wonderfully sexy and v. romantic (especially the last 1/4th of it).

Renee is so extraordinary as Bridget Jones, who would have ever thought she could play so believable a modern Brit woman so well. Her accent seems flawless to me. Hugh Grant is hilarious and a charming Lothario throughout. But Colin Firth is who really sold me on this film. His ability to play a guy that you start out not liking but drooling over by the end of the movie is sublime.

I am a big fan of the less is more style of acting that Mr. Firth puts forth in this film...much of his performance is in his eyes and his facial expressions. While Daniel (Mr. Grant's character) chatters on and on and tries to charm with his wit and words, Mark Darcy (Mr. Firth's character) just has a strong and rather silent presence along with an integrity of character that is revealed and he wins us over (as well as Bridget).

This movie has a lot going on outside of the wonderful romance as well. Contemporary events, gender inequities, social differences, work place decorum, fashion, self-image, sex, family, and friendship all come under the scrutiny of Bridget Jones and her diary.

This is a very good adaptation of a beloved novel. The tone, scene selection, dialogue and characters capture the essence of what fans of the book love about it. I cannot imagine it any better cast or written.

As a huge fan of the books, I had incredibly high expectations of the movie. In order for the movie to work for me, it had to capture Bridget's plucky-heroine character and the hilarious-poignant emotions that are in the book. Needless to say, `Bridget Jones's Diary' the movie worked very, very, very well. Although Helen Fielding also wrote the screenplay (w/ Richard Curtis, very skilled with romantic comedies) and keeps the laughs coming, this movie could have fallen flat on its face. But it doesn't because one, the casting is absolutely divine and two, smartly builds on some elements the book downplays.

Renee Zellweger is absolutely perfect as Bridget Jones. She has always been one of my favorite actresses and here, she totally displays Bridget's pathetic cuteness. Zellweger gained weight for this role, too, so she looks adorably plump. It's very, very hard to not fall in love with her the moment you see her at her family's Christmas party or drinking alone at home or listening to sad, Celine Dion music. (You have a heart of stone if you aren't moved to laughs or tears or pity for her.) I can't imagine anyone else playing Bridget Jones. Zellweger fits the role because she is very much normal and approachable…we can relate to her.

As Daniel Cleaver (her caddish Cassanova lover/boss), Hugh Grant is smoldering and hilarious. (Ok, I might be a little biased because I've been in love with him for ages and ages, but you can't deny he is a great comedic actor.) There's no trace of his stuttering that we saw (and I loved) in `Four Weddings and a Funeral' or `Sense and Sensibility.' Grant morphs effortlessly into a cad that we all love to hate and all love to love. Yes, it's a paradox, but that is what Grant brings to his role. He makes being `bad' look so sexy. You can't take your eyes off him; he brings his own humor to his role. It's lovely, smoldering, and incredibly sexy.

Colin Firth is also a delight to watch onscreen as Mark Darcy (I think I might be in love with him, too). He is also sexy and smoldering, but not in the same wild, fiery way as Daniel Cleaver. Firth brings a very cute sweetness to his role. I don't know if it is his adorable face or his hair or the way he dresses or just the fact that he is a major sex symbol, but you can't help but fall in love with him the MOMENT you see him onscreen. There is also one very beautiful moment where he tells Bridget, `I like you very much…just the way you are.' It's incredibly romantic and, for me, ranks right up there with Tom Cruise's `You complete me' in `Jerry Maguire.' He also has rather explosive chemistry with Renee Zellweger, which is moving and sexy all at the same time. (And, of course, the author Helen Fielding used Colin Firth as the basis for Mark Darcy, so it all works out marvelously.)

I also mentioned that the movie smartly builds on some elements that the book downplays. Yes, there are certain parts of the movie that cannot be found in the book, but I'm still glad they put them in the movie. Most of what they added doesn't necessarily build on plot but it does add to the characters. I don't want to give anything away because it's rather hilarious what unfolds onscreen. The movie is filmed in an almost Ally McBeal type of way but it remains true to the sincerity, cuteness, and pathetic naivete that Bridget Jones embodies. There are no pretensions. It's an entirely wonderful film. 10/10

Being a long time fan of the BJD books (three years and counting), I had nothing but high hopes for the movie version. I was lucky enough to get into a sneak preview last night, and I was not disappointed. The movie, like the book, has the most hilarious lines and moments, and each of the actors portrayed their characters so well you couldn't imagine anyone else in that part. Renee Zellweger IS Bridget, there is just no arguing it. No other actress could have pulled off what Renee did in this movie. Hugh Grant makes for an excellent Daniel, who is completely two faced and has a smarmy sort of charm that makes you want him just as badly as Bridget does. Colin Firth is a superb Mark Darcy, but that was a given because the character was practically written with him in mind - as all avid BJD readers know, Mark Darcy's character is a play on the Mr. Darcy Firth portrayed in Pride and Prejudice.

Some of the more hardcore fans of the book may be disappointed with all the missing jokes and scenes, but to film the entire book would have left us with a 10 hour movie. The writers did an excellent job distilling the essence of the novel, and the finished product has all the charm and wit of the original. The audience, many of whom I'm sure have never read the book (and many of whom, surprisingly, were male), laughed nonstop throughout the film, and everyone seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. As for those of us who have read it, I do believe that this is one of those rare book-to-movie jobs that was really spot-on, and everything that was noticeably changed in the process only makes the movie better. So go see it, it's hands-down one of the best movies of 2001 so far.

Speaking as one familiar with "Pride and Prejudice"--the book and the 1995 miniseries upon which this work is loosely based--I like this spunky little movie exceedingly well, just as it is. Do not be put off by superficial comparisons to "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill," both shallow and pretentious movies memorable only for one fine eulogy and some physically beautiful protagonists. "Bridget Jones's Diary" is more.

Bridget Jones is, as its soundtrack suggests, "Everywoman." Every woman who has ever fumbled for words, fallen on her face, been embarrassed by her mother, chosen her underwear carefully, picked a cad for a boyfriend--whether she's a thirty-something singleton or a sixty-something grandma--can identify with Bridget on some level. You can't help pulling for her. Cheering her on is cheering yourself on.

But this chick-flick is not hardcore; it has a broad sense of humor. Male viewers have been caught in the act--smirking. There is even a fistfight to warm insensitive martial hearts. A couple of famous people make appearances here, too--one with a million-dollar price on his head--Salman Rushdie, who plays himself in a wryly irreverent little sequence.

It's easy to miss the movie's charm on the first screening--some very good lines are swallowed at the ends; the gratuitous profanity, casual sex, prodigious smoking and drinking are turn-offs; the heroine is an awkward, fleshy woman with reprehensible fashion taste, and one may easily posit that she ended up with an unsuitable and unlikely mate.

But I contend, after a second viewing, that this movie is a little gem. There is a wonderful economy in the editing; every scene, every action tends toward only one possible conclusion, a PERFECT conclusion. And the childhood clips in the ending credits give credence to that conclusion and provide support for it--which is that the hero and heroine are made for each other.

I rate it a solid 9 (with a 10 for the BBC/1995 "Pride and Prejudice").

* * * * S P O I L E R S A H E A D * * * *

At first glance, Miss Jones seems stupid and inept and the last woman in the world one would pick for the intelligent and successful Mr. Darcy. But consider this: Darcy already had "a clever wife" before--bliss must needs be sought elsewhere. Besides, Bridget, though somewhat gauche, is not unintelligent, as evidenced by her voiceovers and some of her sallies. But most of all this: Each has something the other needs--he is steady and reliable, she possesses liveliness and warmth. Notice the wistful look on Darcy's face as he watches Bridget and Cleaver cavorting on the river. He WANTS some nonsense and indecorum in his life--needs them; she would be his savior. Imagine Darcy's life if he had settled on the competent but priggish Natasha--both parties would have stagnated. Imagine if Bridget had surrendered to the charms of a Daniel Cleaver--fun for the nonce, but misery for the long haul.

No, this ending is perfect in every way, down to the last delightful epithet uttered by an aroused Darcy. And oh yes, the kiss--very promising indeed; at once tender and ardent, it leaves one with the distinct impression that Darcy will be something more than "helpful in the kitchen."