Bridget Jones's Diary DVD > Reviews > Makes a change from laughing at me

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Amusing comic escapism
Disadvantages:	If you're picky, not the best adaptation of the book possible .   My 4 star rating is because I like my films to be perfect (I'm fussy like that) !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Now, I won't pull any punches here. I am no arts critic. I can barely tell the difference between Charles Dance and Charles Bronson. However, I know what I like and I enjoyed this.

Having been a fan of the Bridget Jones diaries from first appearing as a feature in the Independent through to the Edge of Reason, I couldn't really miss out on the opportunity to see the film. Having read the critics reviews, I was unsure as to what to expect. Apparently it was a "good film, but not for the die-hards". The challenge was set, so off I went.

I was initially worried as to the overall girlieness of the film. Although I am a girly, I'm not a great fan of the romantic comedy. However, I'd be more likely to describe Bridget Jone's diary as a comedy which has fundaments in romance (or the lack of).

The written Jones's diary is very formulaic. It commences with statistics of the day, e.g. "9st 2, Fags:37, No. of times dialled 1471: 42, No. of times have thought about cream cake in fridge: 17". The film is less 'factual' in this respect, for obvious reasons, but loses little of the panache in forsaking this format.

It starts with why the diary was started in the first place - Bridget's attempt at straightening out her life. (I have a gripe with this - I am a woman, many of my friends are women and NONE of us behave like Bridget!! I digress…..). She is 32, in a mediocre-dull job, has no love-life and is surrounded by married couples who smirk at Bridget's singleton (single…) lifestyle. She is surrounded by her urban family, consisting of Shazza (who equals me in the swearing stakes - like a trooper, that girl), Jude (who has a relationship with Vile Richard, whom we never meet) and Tom (gay 80's one-hit wonder - token 'gay friend'). Although these characters are not largely featured in the film, they feature heavily in the books, leading to much mirth (and drunken diary entries such as "4am. Urgle love Tom and Shazza and Jude. Hic. Oops, hasvsh just Fallen".

Bridget's blood relations also appear. She is clearly mortified by her mother's matchmaking actions throughout, which is no surprise as she is as subtle as a sledgehammer wrapped in cling film. Her mother is going through a mid-life crisis which involves her running off with a QVC-a-like male sunbed victim. Her father is an easy-going man, who just seems to like the quiet life (no chance of that, pal!).

The film takes us through the year as written in Bridget's diary. Bridget, played by Renee Zellweger is working in marketing at a book company, and her immediate supervisor is Daniel Cleaver, played by Hugh Grant. After much e-flirting, they 'get it on', much to her delight. Unfortunately, Daniel is a thoroughly unpleasant man and Bridget is soon broken-hearted. Another love interest takes the form of solicitor Mark Darcy (played by Colin Firth of Pride and Prejudice fame, the object of Bridget's desires in the novel, oddly enough!!). He is a quiet chap, unlike Bridget's usual sort, but is clearly enamoured with Bridget. Their friendship is very stilted, even is he does have a canny knack with omelettes!

Renee does a good Bridget. She is funny, not overly dramatic and realistic. Her version of "I can't live, if living is without you" is unmissable. It does sicken me, however, that no matter how much she ate, she couldn't put on the weight (what a tragedy, eh?). Hugh Grant is believable as the arrogant Cleaver, and Colin Firth is perfect as the backward Darcy. The family and other peripheral characters are also good, although they would have been replaceable as far as I was concerned.

There are some fantastic scenes, generally all at Bridget's expense. These include a passionate clinch in enormous Granny-knickers (don't try this at home, girls!), a good fight scene between Grant and Firth and other comedy gems such as 'blue string soup' and a tarts and vicars party that never quite was……

I don't care how like the book the film was. It is, after all, a complete work of fiction so there is some room for manoeuvring. It is a good story and is amusing to boot. If you're anything like me, you'll do silly things all the time, so it's good to laugh at someone else for a change!!