Bridget Jones's Diary DVD > Reviews > Lock up your daughters Hugh Grant is back

Author's product rating:   

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

Advantages:	Not a bad film, a bit slow in places
Disadvantages:	Aimed at a female audience

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

**This review was awarded as the best Ciao Comedy film review 2001**

I hate hype to the point of madness. This film had more than it's fair share and this put me off seeing the movie at the cinema. Under duress from my beloved girlfriend, I finally caved in and stomped off to the video shop, huffing and cursing all of the way there and most of the way back. Convinced of impending boredom, I sat back and prepared myself for the worst. To be fair, it wasn't quite as painful as I had envisaged!

Cast List
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Renée Zellweger– Bridget Jones
Hugh Grant – Daniel Cleaver
Colin Firth – Mark Darcy
Jim Broadbent – Bridget's Father
Gemma Jones – Bridget's Mother
Felicity Montagu – Perpetua

The Story
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Bridget Jones (Zellweger) is 32 years of age and works as an assistant at a London book publisher. Overweight and wearing large figure enhancing knickers, she smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish and dreams about romance on a daily basis. Her knight in shining armour appears in the form of her boss, Daniel Cleaver (Grant). But Daniel is at first uninterested in the dowdy Miss Jones and she finds herself at yet another family gathering, being set up with yet another possible suitor, by her mother (Gemma Jones).

Enter the moody Mark Darcy (Firth) a Lawyer in a silly jumper. Bridget finds little to attract her to Mark, although they knew each other when they were younger, as Bridget used to play in his paddling pool when she was a child. Failing to hit it off, Bridget runs back to the safety of her single lifestyle, vowing to take control of her life, she decides to write a diary of her progress

Making a determined effort to improve her life, she finally manages to attract Daniel's attention and he begins to take an interest in her. Exchanging suggestive emails they eventually go on a date, resulting in a night of passion and a comical scene involving "big pants".

Bridget is happy with her new man but are things going too well for her? Continually bumping into Mark at various social events it becomes apparent that Daniel and Mark have come across each other before. They hate each other and as they both attempt to gain Bridget's affection, lies and accusations come thick and fast.

Who is telling the truth? Who is the good guy and who the bad boy? What will become of poor old Bridget? Well you will just have to watch the film if you want to know more as I will say no more on the plot to avoid spoiling it for those who have not seen the film yet!

Cast/Characters
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Renee Zellweger plays Bridget Jones the title character, and plays her surprisingly well. Why "surprisingly"? Because Miss Zellweger originates from Texas and from past experience, the English accent can often be a bit tricky for our cousins across the water! American actors have in my experience, two "English" accents, "Cockney" and "Upper class". Fortunately the title character is supposedly upper class and therefore, Zellweger manages ok, with relatively few verbal slip-ups. Bridget is a likeable character and one that I am sure all of us have encountered in real life. Emotionally battered by an overbearing mother, it is easy to see how she lapsed into dowdyness. But her character grows in confidence as the film progresses and I did find myself willing her to stand up for herself. In real life, Renee was also 32, the same age as the character Bridget Jones when the story was filmed. That is where the similarities end. Born in Texas and voted as one of the top fifty most beautiful women in the world. Renee forced herself to put on weight in order to get into character and to look the part. Although starring opposite Tom Cruise in the film "Jerry Maguire" (1996) was her first real high profile performance, she didn't receive full recognition for her acting ability until starring in the title role for the film "Nurse Betty" (2001) for which she attained a Golden Globe award for best actress!

Hugh Grant plays Daniel Cleaver in a slightly more butch role than his usual stuttering yet loveable wimp. Cleaver is a suave, confident womaniser. Unfortunately we may never see Hugh Grant play anything other than "Mr Posh Englishman", we certainly haven't to date. His character as Cleaver remains very much the same throughout, confident, cocky and in control of every situation. At least until Bridget Jones becomes more confident and he finds it more and more difficult to twist her around his little finger. Grant shot to fame after appearing as "Charles" in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" (1994) after several unnoticeable film and television roles. His films ever since have been mostly forgettable with only "Notting hill" ( 1999) and perhaps "Mickey Blue eyes" (1999) particularly worth a look. Looks like he might have been working out somewhat for this film, I am sure I spotted a muscle or two!

Colin Firth plays Mark Darcy, and it's not the first Mr Darcy that he has played! Darcy in this film is moody and mysterious. Jones and Darcy strike up an instant dislike like to each other after meeting up again after nearly 30 years. There is still some underlying attraction there and the actors portray the chemistry between the characters superbly. The reason behind Darcy's moodiness and general offish manner is later made clear, again I will say nothing more on this! Colin firth is a "luvvie" in every sense of the word. He has come a long way since his early performances, the first that I can recall was as "Neil Truelove" in the film "Dutch girls" (1985). The ladies will probably recognise him as "Mr Darcy" in the television mini-series adaptation of the Jane Austen novel "Pride and Prejudice" (1995). His career has seen him portray both classical and modern characters and he has proved himself more than capable at both!

The supporting cast is full of many faces familiar to British television viewers, particular sitcom fanatics. The most noticeable for me being Jim Broadbent who plays Bridget Jones's father. He is a great comedy actor and has one of those faces you just can't help laughing at. Whenever I see him on screen, I can't help thinking about his character as that "crooked copper Slater" in Only Fools and Horses!

Comedy
******

Most of the comedy in this film comes from Bridge's ineptitude at everything from relationships to cooking and her ability to "Put her foot in her mouth". Grant and Firth generally play the straight men to the gags, with additional laughs being generated by the excellent supporting cast.

Romance
*******

Well being a Comedy/romance, the viewing time is divided between the two. The on screen chemistry between the three main characters is very good. Oddly enough it is the chemistry between Zellweger and Firth that really stands out. This surprised me really as Hugh Grant, type cast as the love interest in all his successful films usually excels in this area, striking a rapport with many leading ladies. One major strength of the film is that it does not go into major sloppy loveydovey mode. It balances humour and romance well without overdoing either aspect.

Soundtrack
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The soundtrack for this film is excellent! Gabrielle, Robbie Williams, Sheryl crow, the list is endless and impressive. Alright, so it has Geri Halliwells awful "It's Raining men" cover version on it, but you can always skip past that dreadful noise!

Writer/Director/adaptation
**************************

Directed by Sharon Maguire a previously unknown director. I know nothing more about this director! The direction is fine, nothing special, a bit slow in places, but overall no complaints.

Written by Helen Fielding. Prior to Bridget Jones Diary, the writer had only written one novel, "Cause Celeb", a satire set in Africa. Bridget Jones' diary was originally a column in the Independent newspaper. Due to popular demand, Fielding wrote the book. After great success, the story was taken up by the movie Gods and a film was born! Personanally I have not read the book, but I have been reliably informed that the film follows the Written version closely, as it should as Helen Fielding also wrote the screenplay!

Overall view
************

Pah chick flick chick flick chick flick! Oh all right I admit it. I actually enjoyed this film. It is very much a film aimed at the ladies, but the story, humour and acting will appeal to most men also. I did find it a bit slow at times but my girlfriend was kind enough to poke me in the ribs in the quiet moments, just to ensure my concentration stayed focused. I do feel it was very over hyped, but perhaps that is because I do not fall into the category of its main target audience. Personally I feel women from the age of 20 upwards will gain the most from it, a view my girlfriend agrees with (makes a change!). Certainly not a classic, with regards to being a comedy or romance film. Even though I was not overly impressed with "Four weddings and a funeral", Four weddings achieved far more in both these areas. Definitely worth hiring out from the video shop, whether it would be worth buying in this instance would probably depend on your own personal taste.

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