I’d forgotten how much fun Helen Fielding’s ditzy singleton could be, when the author is at the top of her game.
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| When invited to share her job as a television producer during her son's classroom career day, Bridget (Renée Zellweger) uses the opportunity to stage what becomes a revealing "mock interview" with science teacher Scott Walker (Chiwetel Ejiofor). |
The entire gang is back, and the script — by Fielding, Dan Mazer and Abi Morgan — is sharp, witty and laden with Bridget’s hilariously arch inner thoughts (which also become the diary entries that fueled Fielding’s first novel). Renée Zellweger still knows how to deliver a well-timed zinger, and her bemused, squinty expressions, head slightly cocked, are endearing.
This film’s surprise — for fans who’ve come to expect a light, frothy and playfully erotic tone — is its bittersweet atmosphere.
As the story begins, Bridget is a sadder and wiser woman. She still mourns the loss of beloved husband Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), who was killed by a land mine in Sudan four years earlier, while negotiating the release of aid workers. She still “sees” him at telling moments (which gives Firth several significant and poignant scenes).
Bridget has withdrawn from life, to the extent a single parent of two young children can do so. She hasn’t socialized for any reason in ages. Her home is a mess; the refrigerator and grocery shelves are mostly empty; preparing meals is an exercise in unpalatable results; and she spends far too much time in pajamas. She also hasn’t worked for a long time (which makes one wonder what she and her children are living on).
Six-year-old Mabel (Mila Jankovic) is an irrepressible bundle of energy, laughter and noise; 10-year-old Billy (Casper Knopf), much quieter, withdraws into chess, science books and video games.
But a gathering to celebrate Mark’s life cannot be avoided, even though Bridget almost chickens out. Faithful friend and former lover Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), willingly pressed into last-minute babysitting duties, laments that “You’re effectively a nun ... although a very naughty nun.”
(Seriously ... Bridget isn’t Bridget, without constant references to sex!)
The celebratory dinner gathers friends and remaining family members; the evening becomes an uncomfortable blend of condolences and insistent pressure that she start dating again.
“There they all are, all the old voices, giving advice,” Bridget reflects, with a blend of mild annoyance and reluctant gratitude.
Director Michael Morris doesn’t have a steady handle on these early scenes, which feel rushed and uneven, with a cluttered “character dump” that gives fleeting screen time to the dozen or so of the series’ familiar faces.
Things finally settle down when Bridget takes the kids to a nearby park, where they immediate get stuck in a tall tree. Her clumsy effort to help merely worsens the situation ... at which point sudden offers of assistance first come from Scott Walker (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Billy’s school science teacher; and hunky park “ranger” Roxster (Leo Woodall).
Bridget impishly wonders if she has inadvertently climbed a “magical man tree,” and — just like that — our beloved, sex-obsessed and potty-mouthed heroine is back.
(The relentlessly foul language, from almost everybody, is oddly endearing. Brits somehow can drop F-bombs with aplomb and be funny, whereas Americans always sound vulgar.)
Being torn between two equally splendiferous romantic prospects is a Bridget Jones staple, although it doesn’t initially seem that way here. As introduced, Scott is somewhat off-putting; he’s an inflexible authoritarian and whistle-blowing traffic guard during school hours. He’s also rigidly scientific: “There’s no mystery; there’s just rules.”
That deeply troubles Billy, who believes in heaven and some sort of everlasting spirit presence, because he misses his father so deeply. Which, in turn, makes Bridget rather cross with Scott.
Even so, Ejiofor is inherently charming, with a killer smile and strong sense of gravitas; he also feels grounded.
Ah, but this film is subtitled Mad About the Boy, because Roxster is almost a generation younger. He and Bridget initially flirt solely via Tinder texts, but things quickly heat up, despite the age gap. Indeed, Roxster insists that he prefers older women, because they’re more “mature.”
Bridget initially keeps him secret, to a degree, so her best friends — Shazzer (Sally Phillips), Jude (Shirley Henderson) and Tom (James Callis) — teasingly wonder if this guy even exists.
The deepening relationship also encourages Bridget to return to the profession she knows so well, as a live television producer. This reunites her with news anchor Miranda (Sarah Solemani) and chat show co-host Talitha (Josette Simon).
All are present at an outdoor party, when Roxster finally reveals himself, during a hilarious scene reminiscent of Firth’s lake scene in 1995’s Pride and Prejudice miniseries (likely intentional, since Fielding’s first book is a deliberate riff on that Jane Austen classic).
The mildly scruffy Woodall — also currently starring in the Apple TV+ thriller miniseries Prime Target — makes Roxster aw-shucks irresistible. He’s gracious and attentive, seemingly everything Bridget needs. The cute-as-a-bug Mabel immediately christens him “My new daddy,” but Billy isn’t so sure.
Grant almost steals the show, as an ageing lothario who trolls London streets for twentysomethings, more out of habit than actual desire. Daniel has become his own harshest critic, having reached a point in life where he recognizes too many important lost opportunities. Grant’s woeful expressions and regretful ruminations are genuinely touching.
Emma Thompson makes the most of her occasional scenes as Bridget’s go-to medical sage, Dr. Rawlings, who repeatedly insists that she’s “only an OB-GYN,” while nonetheless functioning as a reluctant — if long-suffering — life coach.
Nico Parker is cute and perky as Chloe, Bridget’s amazingly capable nanny; Leila Farzad is persuasively unpleasant as the wealthy, condescending Nicolette, a helicopter parent who believes that her young twin sons have musical talent. (They don’t.)
A white barn owl — which Mabel looks for each evening in their back yard, before going to bed — also plays a key role with an emotional payoff.
The one-liners and comical set-pieces increase as the saga proceeds. Stand-outs include Bridget’s unintended confession without realizing she’s standing in front of a live studio audience; and her misguided attempt to look “younger” by borrowing Talitha’s “magic serum.”
Although every character gets to shine, Zellweger owns this film. Once Bridget regains control of her life — romantic and professional — middle age looks good on her. Zellweger still has ample opportunity for Bridget’s deliciously smutty and well-timed one-liners and inner thoughts, but there’s a stronger sense of thoughtful balance. She has become a better — but, yes, still funny — version of herself.
Morris, Fielding and her co-writers build this saga to an emotion-laden climax, so don’t be surprised if you shed an unexpected tear.
Jolly good show.
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