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Bridget Jones's Diary, Renée Zellweger
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Synopsis of the DVD Movie: Bridget Jones's Diary, Renée Zellweger
Bridget Jones's Diary' is set in London, but not as we know it. It's Sanitized London. A London where people can somehow get away with having names like "Cosmo" and "Darcy". A London where a woman, in her 30s, with no discernible qualifications or experience, can quit her receptionist's job and walk straight into a gig as a roving TV reporter. A London where stately homes, village pubs and unblemished snow stretch for as far as the eye can see. A London with no traffic congestion - in fact, come to think of it, no traffic AT ALL! Come on people, it's London for God's sake! Seriously, they could at least have thrown in ONE drunken tramp with a Scottish accent. Would it have killed them?
But it doesn't take long to realise that this unfeasibly popular movie, based on the runaway best-selling novel by Helen Fielding, is no more grounded in reality than the 'Lord of the Rings' or 'Star Trek' movies. I'm sure of that predominantly because, if life was really like it is in such self-consciously-middle-class pseudo-Richard Curtis fare, I'd have killed myself by now.
Having said all of that, there's no denying that Bridget is an endearing character - even if she is played by Renee Zellweger and thereby cursed with a permanently-closed pair of eyes. The film charts her life as a lousy-with-love singleton, and her quandary over which of her suitors to pick: posh, charming, floppy-haired white-collared high-flier Hugh Grant, or - erm - posh, charming, floppy-haired white-collared high-flier Colin Firth. Of course, anyone with a bit of sense would tell them both to "Firth off", but this is the movies, and anything can happen - just as long as it doesn't involve a speck of dirt being spotted on one of London's streets.
Anyway, getting back to the point, that's about it as far as the plot goes. The performances are exactly what you'd expect from the cast on display. There's also passable direction from the completely unknown helmswoman Sharon Maguire, and a made-for-bathtime soundtrack that could just as easily be titled 'Now That's What I Call Female Empowerment'. But it's main saving grace is that it only lasts for just over an hour-and-a-half - which means swift enough respite for the blokes, daily recommended allowance of overly-fluffy flim-flam for the ladies, and everyone's happy! Well, sort of.
DVD Movie Rating for: Bridget Jones's Diary
4 out of 5
Movie Plot of: Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is an average woman struggling against her age, her weight, her job, her lack of a man, and her many imperfections. As a New Year's Resolution, Bridget decides to take control of her life, starting by keeping a diary in which she will always tell the complete truth. The fireworks begin when her charming though disreputable boss (Hugh Grant) takes an interest in the quirky Miss Jones and the ups and downs of their ill-fated relationship prove hilarious and touching at once. Thrown into the mix are Bridget's band of slightly eccentric friends and a rather disagreeable acquaintance (Colin Firth) who Bridget cannot seem to stop running into or help finding quietly attractive.
Can a single woman over 30, who smokes too much, drinks too much, and has a tendency to say whatever comes into her mind, find her place in the world... and a man? Bridget Jones is an assistant at a London book publisher, feeling time pass her by. When Daniel Cleaver, her boss, starts flirting with her in a vulgar way, she plunges straight in. An affair ensues and she's head over heels. She also keeps running into Mark Darcy, a reserved even stiff barrister who has known her since she was a child young enough to frolic naked in his wading pool, seems to look down his nose at her, and hates Cleaver (truth is, Daniel may be a bit of a bounder). What are Bridget's choices?
DVD Production Details of: Bridget Jones's Diary
Starring: Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth
Director: Sharon Maguire
Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen
Studio: Miramax
DVD Release Date: October 9, 2001
Cast of the movie: Bridget Jones's Diary
- Renée Zellweger .... Bridget Jones
- Gemma Jones .... Bridget's Mum (Pam Jones)
- Celia Imrie .... Mrs. Una Alconbury
- James Faulkner .... Uncle Geoffrey Alconbury
- Jim Broadbent .... Bridget's Dad (Colin Jones)
- Colin Firth .... Mark Darcy
- Charmian May .... Mrs. Darcy, Mark's Mum
- Hugh Grant .... Daniel Cleaver
- Paul Brooke .... Mr. Kenneth Fitzherbert, aka 'Mr. Tits Pervert'
- Felicity Montagu .... Perpetua
- Shirley Henderson .... Jude, Bridget's Pal
- Sally Phillips .... Shazzer, Bridget's Pal
- James Callis .... Tom, Bridget's Pal
- Charlie Caine .... Handsome Stranger
- Gareth Marks .... Simon in Marketing
Photo Gallery of the movie: Bridget Jones's Diary
Reviews of the movie: Bridget Jones's Diary
Featuring a blowzy, winningly inept size-12 heroine, Bridget Jones's Diary is a fetching adaptation of Helen Fielding's runaway bestseller, grittier than Ally McBeal but sweeter than Sex and the City. The normally sylphlike Renée Zellweger (Nurse Betty, Me, Myself and Irene) wolfed pasta to gain poundage to play "singleton" Bridget, a London-based publicist who divides her free time between binge eating in front of the TV, downing Chardonnay with her friends, and updating the diary in which she records her negligible weight fluctuations and romantic misadventures of the year. Things start off badly at Christmas when her mother tries to set her up with seemingly standoffish lawyer Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), whom Bridget accidentally overhears dissing her. Instead she embarks on a disastrous liaison with her raffish boss, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant, infinitely more likeable when he's playing a baddie instead of his patented tongue-tied fops). Eventually, Bridget comes to wonder if she's let her pride prejudice her against the surprisingly attractive Mr. Darcy.
If the plot sounds familiar, that's because Fielding's novel was itself a retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, whose romantic male lead is also named Mr. Darcy. An extra ironic poke in the ribs is added by the casting of Firth, who played Austen's haughty hero in the acclaimed BBC adaptation of Austen's novel. First-time director Sharon Maguire directs with confident comic zest, while Zellweger twinkles charmingly, fearlessly baring her cellulite and pulling off a spot-on English accent. Like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill (both of which were written by this film's coscreenwriter, Richard Curtis), Bridget Jones's stock-in-trade is a very English self-deprecating sense of humor, a mild suspicion of Americans (especially if they're thin and successful), and a subtly expressed analysis of thirtysomething fears about growing up and becoming a "smug married." The whole is, as Bridget would say, v. good.
Brill!
Speaking as a singleton of a certain age, I found this move dead on. Although
set in England, the theme and feelings of single people everywhere were universal.
The plot line stayed pretty true to the book with a few exceptions but the tone
stayed the same. I know when I went to see this with a female friend there were
many men in the audience who looked like they had been dragged there but 5 minutes
into the move they were laughing as hard (if not harder) than the women in the
audience. This is definitely not just a "chick flick." Renee Zellweger
was a perfect Bridget. When I first heard that she was going to play this role,
I was skeptical but after I saw it(which I did twice, so far!) I couldn't imagine
anyone else with such a mixture of cynicism and innocence. Bravo to the casting
of Hugh Grant and Colin Firth as Cleaver and Darcy, respectively. If this movie
doesn't win some Oscars it will be a crying shame.
