Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH9CWWqb-6E

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Making goals in pursuing love ain’t ever gonna be easy. You don’t believe me? Look at Bridget Jones’s Diary.


PLOT


Based on Helen Fielding’s titular novel, the film follows 32 year old Bridget Jones who works in London as a publicity assistant for a publishing company. It is at her job where she has a crush on her boss Daniel Cleaver. At a New Year’s party where she is reintroduced to childhood acquaintance Mark Darcy, who now works as a barrister, she decides to write a diary in turning her life around after he sees her too vulgar & arrogant. As she tries losing weight by lessening to drink & smoke, she starts flirting with Daniel and he officially becomes amused with her after unintentionally insulting other authors in an introductory speech. After running into Mark again does Daniel share they used to be friends until catching him with his ex fiancé. When the two go on a mini vacation together, they get invited to a costume party hosted by Bridget’s family. They stay at a country inn that Mark & his girlfriend Natasha Glenville (Embeth Davidtz) are also at, but they still enjoy themselves when rowing in a lake, resulting in her to profess her love for him at night. Daniel would return to London sooner claiming it to be work related, resulting in Bridget to go to the costume party alone. She would go dressed as a Playboy bunny, but she would awkwardly be one of the only ones there in costume due to a last minute change she didn’t get notified in time. When she returns to London, she’d be devastated catching Daniel with his American colleague Lara (Lisa Barbuscia) who he’s engaged with. Her heartbreak would lead to her quitting, rebuffing him in front of her coworkers who support her decision to do so. She’d get a new job as a television personality for ‘Sit up Britain’, but would be endeared for being comically bungling, such as having a botched pole landing at a firehouse. When seeing Mark again at a dinner party, he admits he genuinely likes her for being herself despite what he said before. He then makes it up to her by giving her an exclusive interview of a landmark legal case that boosts her career. She would start to see him differently, especially when helping her out with cooking a gourmet birthday dinner, that is celebrated alongside her friends. Daniel shows up drunk trying to reclaim her attention, but it only leads to a fight with Mark which ends with her chiding them both. When she visits her mother Pamela (Gemma Jones), who reunites with her father Colin (Jim Broadbent) after an affair with a colleague, she shares with her that Mark & Daniel’s falling out truly happened because it was the latter that cheated with his wife and not the other way around. She sees him at the ruby anniversary of his parents to tell him she feels the same in liking him for who he is, but tells her he accepted a job in NY with Natasha, likely to marry her. Her trio of friends, Sharon, Jude & Tom (Sally Phillips, Shirley Henderson & James Callis), tend to cheer her up by taking her to Paris, but that goes out the window the moment Mark appears to declare being with her rather than NY. When she goes to change, he finds her diary full of unflattering opinions about him. Bridget would see him go out the door and rush to him when realizing what he read, but the film ends with him officiating their relationship with a kiss, as it reveals he went to get her a new diary for her to start fresh.


THOUGHTS


This is one of my mom’s favorite romantic themed movies on par to Pretty Woman and after years of wondering why, I made the time to see for myself and I get it. In a way, director Sharon Maguire does give a grounded look on how hard it is to find love the older we get, but also expresses a fair amount of hijinks that comes with it. I mean you it’s gonna be unserious when wearing a playboy bunny costume during a party or get locally famous for a news botch. The relatability is still there when it comes to searching for love because while some change can be nice, you can’t overdo such because you’ll forget who you are. Just keep on accepting yourself and things will work out just fine. This is the case when following Renee Zellwegger who steals our hearts as the titular protagonist. Through this Oscar nominated performance, Bridget is an icon because she’s a witty girl who genuinely wants to self improve when getting legit feedback for the first time. It’s the right motivation, but she at first targets the wrong person to impress. If you’ve seen Hugh Grant in the 90s,  you too would fall for the heartthrob aura he brings as Daniel and that is all you’ll think about when he enters the room until slowly seeing how manipulative he is the more you’re around him. It’s one thing to have a fling with someone while engaged, but not even telling your side chick your relationship status is so low because your setting hopes too high and that’s why it only gets harder to tolerate him when the franchise progresses. Luckily, Bridget picks the more ideal man that ain’t that much of a prick. Colin Firth was a delight as Mark because he’s all about being principled while honest. It was definitely harsh when expressing his first impression of Bridget, but it’s better than being a two faced liar the way he sees it, which is why she chooses him. And on top of that, I’m glad he got his hands on Daniel because there was no wha he was gonna let him think he’s untouchable, rightfully so. Once he got that out of his system, he sure had a clear conscience going forward with Bridget, as would she at the moment in the happily ever after she hoped for. This movie can definitely be cute overall, but there are quite a few things that hold it back from being better. The opening jokes are hard to pull me in because I'm not sure if I were to laugh over a perverted uncle or if my mom were to say I dress like I wandered out of Auschwitz. That's worse than saying Japanese are a cruel race. And seriously, the odds were too high for Bridget & Daniel to run into Mark twice because it's more than the plot demanding it. Bridget should've expected Mark was gonna be in the area since she saw him at the previous New Years party and their parents are friends to one another. Also, I don't see the point of her wearing the costume throughout the day when she could've changed. I know she's full of heartbreak when catching Daniel with Lara, but that shouldn't mean she can't change sooner. And if she doesn't like going to parties meant for couples, there's no shame in admitting that upon invite after the tv mishap. Lastly, it's a bit off putting for Mark to leave Bridget hanging just to surprise with a new diary. The sentiment to start fresh is sweet, but telling her before departing could've been a sweeter way to go about it in my opinion. If you can ignore these issues however, then you can still appreciate Bridget Jones's Diary for being a rom com that knew how to embrace authenticity better than past films of the genre. If that's what you want of a movie, check this out.