Off The Deep End With Bridget Jones?

The movie version of the sequel to Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason hits theaters today — will this be a further boost to Renée Zellweger's career or just another nail in the coffin of the romantic comedy? She's fat, she's thin, now she's fat again! Gothamist is sick of hearing about it, but it's difficult not to watch. Plus, this time around she's an Oscar winning actress, rather than an ingenue with something to prove. Will this change her performance significantly?

Renee Zellweger and Colin Firth Last we'd left our heroine, Bridget that is, she'd run after the exiting Darcy and now they were standing in the falling snow, making out to "Someone Like You" with Bridget in but a pair of tiny knickers and sneakers. She has her man, now the premise of the sequel is that she has to figure out to keep him.

Our big rational for loving Helen Fielding's book is that the plot mirror's Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and her character Bridget is obsessed with the BBC's mini series version of the 18th Century rom com starring Colin Firth. Thus, when Mr. Firth played Mark Darcy, a character literally compared in the novel to Austen's fictional Darcy, it was a great moment of meta, self-referential fun. Then in the follow up novel, one of the most side-splitting scenes comes when journalist Bridget tries to interview actor Colin Firth and rather than discussing his most recent project, fixates on the wet shirt scene from the mini series.

If only they would put some sort of split screen one actor, two roles thing in the sequel so character Mark Darcy could finally meet actor Colin Firth, then we'd be happy. Are you still a Bridget fan? Predictions on how good the movie will be? Or are romantic comedies so over?

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By Karen Wilson in Arts and Events on November 12, 2004 9:30 AM

Comments [rss]

abyosg

How about fixing her face for good she always looks like she has a mouth full of sour patch kids

also there was a big debate as to whether she was an alcoholic or just insane. No one is certain

karen

the thai prison scene is from the book.

i haven't seen the film yet, but the bad reviews aren't a deterrant. bridget has always been a guilty pleasure. heh.

did anyone see hugh's comment that he might retire after this film? was the shoot REALLY that bad? maybe he's tired of playing the asshole.

Viviane

SPOILER AHEAD?

I don't know if this is a spoiler, but the whole

scnee where Bridget interviews Colin Firth was not filmed. Fans were very curious about how that was going to be handled. You might look at the Colin Firth fansites e.g. firthfrenzy.

Van Helen

I caught the Bridget sequel too. Not only does she teach a bunch of Thai prostitutes to Karaoke to Madonna -- as if the song was never in heavy rotation in Pat Pong in the '80s -- but Bridget exchanges knickers w/ the little risque asian ladies.

It's a creepy scene, but not as creepy as the entire duration of Polar Express.

But I have to admit, for me, Bridget is a guilty pleasure and I'm glad I saw it. Loved the British male "fight" scene, mildly amused by Jacinda's reversal, and sheepishly enjoyed the blaring pop hits. Yay Joss Stone!

I think despite the lousy reviews, fools like me will still go out to catch the fat girl jokes. I simply enjoy wallowing in the tubs of ice cream by Bridget's side.

Dirk

Speaking of NYTimes movie reviews, did you read the review for Polar Express this week? It compares a scene with Santa to a scene in "Triumph of the Will" and mentions how Santa's bag of toys looks like a giant scrotum! Oh, what happened to the NY Times...

Dirk

Bridget in a Thai prison? Is that really the plot? Female prison movies are hot!

On a side note, I agree that it's insane that Bridget would be considered "fat". Yeah, maybe if you compare her to the other 100lb starlets running around. But she's definitely not fat by any stretch of the imagination.

janelle

i saw this last night - terrible! as expected, of course. luckily, the second and third reels were spliced incorrectly, so watching the film out of order and having to fill in the blanks was somewhat interesting. also, we were all given comps to another film of our choice. karen, i propose gael garcia bernal day #2: bad education.

Rose

I just read a review in CNN online. What the hell is this about Bridget winding up in A Thai jail due to security finding a stash of drugs (not hers)in her suitcase and then she's teaching other women inmates the right words to Madonna's "Like a Virgin". This not only sounds not funny, it sounds stupid and I'm not even going to go out of my way to see if this happened to the author of the diaries/books the movies are based on.

Mase

I think there have a few recent romantic comedies that have held up. "Next Stop Wonderland" and "Walking and Talking" being two examples. However, the failures do vastly outnumber the successes.

Lulu

It speaks volumes about the vapidity of Hollywood and those who consume its vast mountains of crap that Renée Zellweger's character in Bridget Jones could be considered fat. RZ is a tiny, anorexic starlet with a puffy face who put on a few pounds for the role. Kelly Osbourne should have been cast...

Rose

I would rather have had Bridget played in the sequel as having lost weight and by Renee Zellweger as the actress usually is, thin.

She could still be a chain-smoking, wine guzzling, mess she was in the first movie. Just to prove being thin does not guarantee you no problems.

Jen

I'm a romantic comedy fan, but I think very few modern films do it well...and if they do, they usually aren't American films. Tthe best were in the 30s and 40s, like Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth, where you needed crackling timing and leading actors who weren't famous because they were in US Weekly. I think TV has surpassed film in bringing interesting romantic comedies to screen (Sex and the City, some Friends subplots), because movies are now all about special effects and easy answers. Hugh Grant has romantic comedy coursing through his veins- About A Boy is almost a romantic comedy, though it's more a coming of age in some ways.

So, as a Bridget fan, because of the chick lit out there, it's among the most clever, I was looking forward to the sequel. I still am, but in a different way. Manohla Dhargis's review in the Times was brutal and incredible: "...man, does this one make the first movie look like a masterpiece."