After a ten year absence on screen Bridget Jones is back in Mad About the Boy but she has undergone quite the transformation. She’s now a grief struck widow raising her two young children on her own after the tragic death of her husband Mark (Colin Firth).
He died four years ago and yet Bridget is still mourning his loss – she talks to him and imagines him accompanying her wherever she goes. In many ways she is still the same old Bridget, scatterbrained and vague. She still makes a fool of herself but the spark within her seems long gone.
Her wider circle of friends, ever concerned about her, give her condescending advice and are not subtle in discussing what is wrong with her in front of her. When it comes to her closest inner circle the affection is genuine and they convince her to enter the world of online dating. Curiously though, the men she actually develops interests with she meets face to face.
Sadly many of the characters we’ve come to associate with the story such as Bridget’s parents make only fleeting appearances. Even Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) only plays a very limited role and seems to be there as an accessory. Bridget’s close friends appear a fair amount, but again they seem to be there simply as pushy prompts designed to move the plot along rather than standing as real people. As for poor Una (Celia Imrie) she is reduced to just a few seconds on a mobile phone screen.
It’s as though the film is trying to move in a new direction but can’t quite let go of the past so is randomly splicing in these characters. The result is the emotional intensity of previous films is lost in this one.
Even the love triangle Bridget finds herself doesn’t have the intensity or rivalry of past films. What the film does get right is the grief Bridget feels and how it can make someone shut down. Zellweger nails this completely and when she begins to emerge and allow herself to step out of her comfort zone it feels like the film finds its feet again.
Overall, the film is likeable, and the cast great yet somehow the magic isn’t quite there. If you love Bridget, you may well love the film, but for me that spark I mentioned earlier has dimmed. But maybe, that’s the reality of life and grief.
Starring: Renée Zellweger, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Jim Broadbent, Isla Fisher, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant
Directed by: Michael Morris
Duration: 125 Minutes
Open in New Zealand – 13 February 2025
