Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy ★★★★★

By The Recs NM 3 days ago

The much-loved Bridget Jones returns for a fourth movie and perhaps for one last hurrah!

Nine years since Bridget Jones’ Baby hit cinemas, Bridge is back with a bang for her fourth and apparently final appearance in this most English of film series.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy sees Mrs Bridget Darcy (Renee Zellweger) is now ensconced in a Victorian-terraced house in leafy NW3, but as Mark (Colin Firth) was killed in Sudan four years ago, she is now not only a widow but also a single mother to not one but two children, Billy and Mabel. The film opens with her getting ready to go to a memorial dinner party for Mark’s birthday with his stuffy, upper-class friends. Cue lots of Bridget-esque struggling to do up the zip on her dress; and who should be in charge of babysitting but the one and only Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) whose presence was sorely missed in the last film. He is at a poetry reading with his current squeeze, having forgotten to get to Bridget’s; and the phone call with his “mummy” offers the first of many guffaws over the next two hours.

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We follow Bridget from sitting on the sofa in her PJs trying to load Netflix with a voice activated remote (fabulous comedy moment) back to working as a TV Producer on a daily show, via school drop off (with a fleeting-but-brilliant cameo from Isla Fisher) where she meets Billy’s new science teacher, Mr Scott Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor). He doesn’t create the best first impression, being somewhat akin to Captain Von Trapp with his reliance on a whistle, but he continues to appear throughout, from Bridget getting stuck up a tree (where we also first meet Roxter, the handsome and handy park ranger) to a walking holiday with the school children in the Lake District. Roxter (Leo Woodall) offers fun in the sun while Scott offers sensibility, but who will she choose?

For fans of the series, all of the classics are there: big pants? Tick! Shaz (Sally Phillips), Jude (Shirley Henderson) and Tom (James Callis) dissecting Bridget’s failures with a large glass of wine? Tick! Emma Thompson as the straight-talking but hilarious gynaecologist Dr Rawlings? Big tick! Prat fall? Absolutely! There are also some lovely throwbacks to previous films, including Hugh Grant’s lake scene from the first film, now reimagined as Leo Woodall in a private pool; and Bridget kissing a suitor in the snow…but you’ll have to watch the film to find out which one!

For audiences who have grown up with Bridget, this feels like a full circle moment in her story. The film invites you to laugh with her, cry with her, and are reminded both of where she started and her future. She is older, perhaps a bit wiser, but no less fun; and the myriad of past characters are not shoe-horned in but feel perfectly placed, while new characters offer a fresh twist on a classic brand. The screenplay by Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer and Abi Morgan is laugh-out-loud funny, truthful, tender and touching. The lead actors are clearly having a ball, and the ensemble cast are wonderful, with particular praise for the young actors playing Bridget’s children, Casper Knopf and Mila Jankovic. Notable returnees include Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Celia Imrie and Neil Pearson. Michael Morris directs with flair, allowing the humour to land naturally without ever feeling forced or fake, nor does the sentimentality tip over into twee.

While a huge hit with women, this film appeals to both sexes and offers something for everyone. Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is absolutely worth seeing on a big screen here and having a shared experience with the gamut of emotions. If this is the end then so long, Bridget – you’ll be missed!

Make a date in your diary with Bridget – ★★★★★

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