Bridget Jones's Diary Review
by David N. Butterworth (dnb AT dca DOT net)November 16th, 2001
BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2001 David N. Butterworth
*** (out of ****)
Critic Joel Siegel wrote of "Bridget Jones’s Diary" "If you loved "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill," you’ll love this movie more... It’s funnier!" (No, I didn’t read his review, either before seeing the film or after writing my review--it’s right there in the print ads.) And no, even though I *did* love "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill" I didn’t love this movie more (perhaps because I haven’t read Helen Fielding’s whimsical best seller on which the film is based).
But I did enjoy it--quite a lot at times.
I enjoyed it primarily because of Renée Zellweger. As the title character, a British, 32-year-old publisher’s assistant who drinks too much, smokes too much, and has zero prospects in the romance department, Zellweger is nothing less than sensational. The reports of her boning up for the role have been much publicized yet all of her efforts--perfecting her English accent and putting on 20 pounds to play the chubby-cheeked Bridget--have paid dividends. Not only does Zellweger nail the accent, but she also carries off Bridget’s goofy charm to comic perfection. This is an absolutely wonderful performance by Zellweger; she makes the movie.
Having said that her co-stars aren’t half bad either. Hugh Grant plays Daniel Cleaver, Bridget’s lecherous boss who first comes onto her electronically. Dashing and duplicitous, Daniel is a total cad and Grant is totally convincing playing him. By contrast, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth, best known from TV’s "Pride and Prejudice") is a stiff and stuffy barrister. Bridget’s mother introduces him to her daughter during one of her famous turkey curry nights, taking care to point out that Bridget ran around naked in Mark’s paddling pool when they were little.
Every time Mark bumps into Bridget he seems angry and awkward; every time Bridget bumps into Mark she winds up saying something stupid, or mean.
Ah, the price of love!
How Bridget goes from being a spinster-in-training to having two good-looking men in her life (hence her need to keep a diary) and what to do thereafter forms the bulk of "Bridget Jones’s Diary." Like any good romantic comedy it’s deliciously witty and spontaneous and oozes charm from every corpuscle. Mark might be a little too off-putting for some, but Firth does an excellent job of showing the shyness hidden just below his character’s brittle exterior. And if anything, Grant actually seems to cut back on his trademark facial twitches and stammered delivery.
The supporting roles (Jim Broadbent as Bridget’s father, Gemma Jones as her mother, and Embeth Davidtz as a slim seductress who seems to have Mark wrapped around her littlest finger) aren’t as interesting as the Bridget/Daniel/Mark triangle but the actors all turn in competent performances nonetheless. "Bridget Jones’s Diary," however, belongs to Bridget. It belongs to Renée Zellweger.
Ms. Zellweger was in the bathroom when they announced her name as Best Actress, Musical of Comedy (for "Nurse Betty") during this year’s Golden Globe awards. There’s a long way to go before next year’s ceremony, of course, but Zellweger’s performance in "Bridget Jones’s Diary" is equally worthy of such praise. Or even more, as Mr. Siegel might say...
--
David N. Butterworth
[email protected]
Got beef? Visit "La Movie Boeuf"
online at http://members.dca.net/dnb
More on 'Bridget Jones's Diary'...
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
