Film Review - Bridget Jones`s Diary Film Review

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House review of Bridget Jones`s Diary (2001)

I never read the Helen Fielding’s columns, nor the books that came from them. There were two things that attracted me to the film version of Bridget Jones’s Diary, and neither of them was a previous history with Fielding’s character. I know that she’s beloved to women who see their lives reflected in hers, and I hope they found the movie satisfying.

One thing that attracted me to this film was that I had read that it is based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I am a big Austen fan, and I find that she adapts well to film. I’ve also been impressed at how well she updates; for example, 1999’s Clueless was based on her novel, Emma. Bridget Jones is another such update, with Elizabeth recast as Bridget, Wickham recast as Daniel, and, most importantly, Mr. Darcy recast as, well, Mr. Darcy.

There’s no doubt that Fielding’s novel was inspired not only by Austen’s novel, but by Colin Firth, who played Mr. Darcy in A&E’s 1996 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. He was simply perfect, claiming the role in such a way that no other actor could hope to touch it (though a few have tried, and failed, since then). She wrote her own Mark Darcy with Colin Firth in mind, and was instrumental in getting Firth cast in the film role. Firth, by the way, is the second reason I own this movie. He’s an extremely accomplished but underrated actor who can jump back and forth between comedy and drama seamlessly. He gets a bit of both in Bridget Jones.

The story centers upon Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger), a publicist at a publishing house. She’s 32 years old, single, self-conscious, and on New Year’s Day, makes a resolution to make some changes in her life. To help her achieve that goal, she begins a diary, which helps her narrate the events of the novel. The movie follows her over the course of a year, from the first time she meets Mark Darcy at her mother’s New Year’s turkey curry buffet, through her disastrous relationship with her boss, Daniel (Hugh Grant), through a new job in which Mark goes from being a thorn in her side to being her biggest ally, to the next New Year’s Eve, when it seems that Bridget has finally found the love she’s been looking for.

The plot is fun, full of love, sex, and rivalry, with some interesting sub-plots about Bridget’s parents (Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones) and Bridget’s urban family. But what appeals to women viewers is the embarrassing realism our lives and thought processes are portrayed in. For example, the underwear quandary. Thinking she might get lucky with Daniel, Bridget has to decide whether to wear the sexy, skimpy panties, or the girdle-esque, “scary, stomach-holding-in panties favored by grannies everywhere,” so that she looks good in the dress that Daniel will see her in. If she doesn’t look good in the dress, he won’t be interested. But if he’s interested, he’ll see the big panties. This is a real problem—women have to deal with things like this all the time--and it’s cathartic to watch Bridget deal with it instead.

There are many things like that as Bridget deals with her weight, her career, her feelings of insecurity, her propensity to bad luck, and her longing to belong with someone. These personal and utterly relatable touches are interwoven with subtle and witty commentary on the single life at the turn of the century.

Besides these emotional and insightful characteristics and an excellent cast, Bridget Jones has one more thing to recommend it. It has what is in my opinion, one of the best fight scenes on film. Daniel and Mark get into a fight over Bridget, and while “It’s Raining Men” plays on the soundtrack, they engage in the most pathetic excuse for a fight ever seen. There are no punches, roundhouse kicks, or karate chops--only pushing, slapping, hair-pulling and a lot of mutual falling over. It’s really how two professional, white-collar men would fight. It’s completely priceless.

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