Year of Release: 2025
Director: Michael Morris
Starring: Renee Zellweger, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Hugh Grant, Sally Phillips, Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Nico Parker, Shirley Henderson, James Callis, Celia Imrie, Isla Fisher, Leila Farzad, Milla Jankovic, Casper Knopf, Colin Firth, Neil Pearson, Alessandro Bedetti
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
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Synopsis and Review
Following the unexpected indie success that was "To Leslie", director Michael Morris is back, with a decidedly more emotional turn in the adventures of Bridget Jones. The narrative finds Bridget, now a single mom with two young children, navigating an unexpected turn of events, as Mark Darcy has been killed a few years ago, leaving her with an emotional hole in her life, one that has been challenging to overcome. Following the advice of her medical practitioner, Bridget decides to go back to work, resuming her role as a producer for a TV show. Her friends also mention it's time for her to get back in the dating game, and set up a profile for her on Tinder. She meets a park ranger by the name of Roxster, a younger man, who becomes smitten with her. While the relationship seems to be moving fairly well, he suddenly ghosts her. In the meantime, Bridget finds herself supporting Daniel Cleaver, who has a health scare and in the interim has also become a close friend and confidante. When Roxster reappears and apologizes for his behavior, Bridget decides to move on, focusing on her children and making sure they continue their journey of healing. She also decides to attend a school trip, featuring her son's class with the additional attendance of various teachers, including science teacher Scott Walliker, who as it turns out, is a kind, intelligent and sweet man, and not the brash man Bridget mistook him for. At the school winter holiday pageant, Bridget's son Billy sings "I'd Do Anything" as a tribute to his father, and she thanks Walliker for his time spent with Billy. She also invites him for a holiday celebration.
It's been a somewhat difficult task to replicate the spirit that the original "Bridget Jones's Diary" captured, which Sharon Maguire directed to much critical and commercial success in 2001, and the sequels that have since been released. Of all the sequels this may well be the most successful one, one where in parallel with the tropes of the romantic comedy, there's also deeper emotional aspects tied with grief, growing older, and trying to make sense of one's life, as life takes dramatic and unexpected turns. It's a bit like Lawrence Kasdan's "Grand Canyon" meets "Bridget Jones' Diary". Bridget is still very much herself, this time around, not as clumsily insecure as she was before, but still attempting to navigate the dating world, with deep bruises from the passing of her dearest one. It's a film that chronicles, not quite as literally as Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" did with the passing of time, but nonetheless it does chronicle the life changes that have occurred with Bridget, her family and circle of close friends. It's a bittersweet film, one that allows for some characters to be more than the typical cliché they've been in the past, even if some of the supporting characters should have gotten a bit more time/bandwidth (though it's nice to witness the evolution of Daniel Cleaver, though Bridget's other close friends deserved a bit more than just the footnote they ended up getting). The cast really does bring this film to life, particularly the always fantastic Renee Zellweger in the lead role, who gets great support from a cast that includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Sally Phillips, Jim Broadbent, and Nico Parker. The production team is equally impeccable, featuring the cinematography of Suzie Lavelle, score from Dustin O'Halloran, and production design by Kave Quinn. An entertaining film worth watching.
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