Bridget Jones's Diary DVD > Reviews > Surprisingly I didn't vomit once

Author's product rating:   

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

Advantages:	Sweet and funny, well - acted, good for its type
Disadvantages:	You need to be in the right frame of mind

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Bridget Jones's Diary: three words that currently divide the nation. Some people will squeal with delight, whilst others recoil in horror and vow never to watch this film so long as they live. They, however, will be the ones missing out on a perfectly enjoyable film. You just have to be in the right frame of mind.

If you step back and imagine that this is not the adaptation of a million-selling book, you will see that it is actually quite a modest little tale of a thirtysomething woman searching for love, acceptance and her place in the world. Okay, so it stars Renee Zellweger and Hugh Grant, but it's short, sweet and is quite likely to leave you feeling warm and gushy at the end, so long as you leave your prejudices at the door.

However, if you hated Four Weddings & A Funeral and Notting Hill, STAY AWAY! For this is the latest effort from Working Title Films, the pureveyors of "terribly British comedy", where all the men have floppy finges and say "damn" a lot, and the women chain-smoke and worry about stretch marks. You have been warned.

The plot: fed up with her lot in life, Bridget decides to keep a diary to document her year-long transformation from lonely secretary to successful career-girl with handsome boyfriend. Over the next ninety minutes, we see her hook up with her caddish boss Daniel Cleaver (Grant), become a highly inept television reporter, get drunk (a lot), make a fool of herself in public (even more), whilst making more and more entwined with the initally frosty and uptight Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). I probably haven't made it sound that appealing but, trust me, it's okay.

Get past the first few minutes, where Bridget simply comes over as pathetic, annoying and generally inept, and you will warm to her over the course of the film. Zellweger's accent is impeccable (especially considering that she is Texan), and her weight gain for the role is impressive, if not in the Robert De Niro/Raging Bull league. In fact, I thought her newly formed curves were very attractive - no doubt many women would still kill for a body like hers. Hugh Grant gets the best role as Bridget's shitheel boss, which makes a change from all the inept, bumblers he normally plays. Plus, we get to see him and Colin Firth have a fight!

On the downside, it's all a bit nicey-nicey and sickly sweet, and I found Colin Firth to be a bit too uptight and unsympathetic, as well as bearing more and more of a resemblance to Joe Meek as the film progresses.
I doubt that I will never watch it again either, as I doubt the magic would work twice. Still, I was so sure I was going to loathe it, so if I can enjoy it then so can anyone.