Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason Review
by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)November 13th, 2004
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"Another year, another diary" - that's a line from the first three minutes of Bridget Jones: The End of Reason, and it's practically an admission that its filmmakers are prepared to shove the exact same crap from the first film down your throat for the next 100 minutes. While Bridget Jones's Diary didn 't break new ground in terms of romantic comedy, it did (slightly) separate itself from the pack by having a crackling, A-list-making performance from Renée Zellweger, which I thought was the best of 2001.
Zellweger's turn in Reason shouldn't be any less impressive, but thanks to wallowing in some pretty suspect material, it sure seems like it is. The cleverest thing about the film is the font used in the opening credits, which puts a heart over the "i" in Firth, and makes the "t" in Grant into a pitchfork. After that, it's all down hill. Reason's action takes place about two months after Diary ended, and somehow, Bridget (Zellweger) still hasn't managed to muck things up with new beau, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth).
This seems fairly far-fetched, considering Bridget wildly swings between being emotionally and sexually content, to suffering from a desperate lack of confidence and acting like an insanely jealous sociopath. In other words, she's every man's worst nightmare (except, perhaps, the gay ones). The world might be a better place if all people - men and women - who acted like this were tossed into a Thai prison, like Bridget is. Thai prison? Yeah, don't ask. It's not worth an explanation.
Bridget, who is now a television journalist of completely undetermined stature, wants Darcy to propose to her, even though: 1) they've only been together for a few weeks; 2) she is convinced she's not good enough for him;
3) she's positive he's banging his attractive co-worker (Jacinda Barrett, Ladder 49). Why, it's all enough to make me wish somebody would cue up an Aretha Frankin song and make a joke about Bridget's big underpants. Oh, wait.there they both are. Again.
So you've got an inferior film sequel, which was based on an inferior book sequel. It's all enough to make you want to see Seed of Chucky instead.
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