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Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones's Diary

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Bridget Jones's Bogus Journey
Review: The bogus journey of one Bridget Jones, as she attempts to break the shackles of her terrible singlehood. The original premise of this movie (a woman finding love in all the wrong places, and giving up) is a pleasant deviation from romantic comedies, but it starts looking more like a train-wreck after the first twenty minutes.

The most saliant problem with this movie is, who is it trying to fool ? Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is obviously too attractive and intelligent to still be single at 30-something. This is an utterly pointless premise.

Bridget Jones' Diary is, simply said, a caricature of single life. Most of its characters are caricatures, that only exist to either torment Bridget about being single, to be the stereotypical "group of friends", or antagonists. Since this movie has no substance, it does not deserve any more praise than its original premise does.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Please!
Review: What I found most disgusting about this film was that the whole point was that Bridget was finding herself as separate from needing a man. From being the tragic girl desperately running after a man. And then she ran barefooted in the rain after Colin Firth. Almost as if she couldn't simply tell him the truth, see him for what he was and love that and had to debase herself as she had worked so hard to erase from her habits. Thats when the film really was a let down for me.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: How strange are women?
Review: Thank God for feminism, thank God for Sixties liberation, thank God for Emmeline Pankhurst and Germaine Greer. Thank God for the years of selfless campaigning for the rights of women while fighting against oppressive domination. As a result the silver screen is proud to present it's first female role model of the new millennium. Bridget Jones.

OH MY GOD.

What does Ms Jones do with her hard won liberty? She spends her life looking for the perfect man to marry.

Bridget, a 32-year-old, single white female - played by Renee Zellweger - works in the PR department of a publishing house and lives alone. She spends her nights drinking vodka and worrying about dying a lonely death as an old spinster and being eaten by her pet dogs. Bidget has surely spent too many long evenings in front of the tele watching repeats of Ally McBeal and Sex In The City. Looking for the perfect man? There's a large haystack without a needle.

During the day she's at the office, working for a sexist, womanising cad of a boss - Hugh Grant - with whom she decides definitely not to have a relationship. They exchange sexy emails about the shortness of her skirt and the niceness of her chest, before embarking on a relationship.

Prior to bedding the boss, Bridget bumps into the beastly Mark Darcy - Colin Firth - at her parents annual curried turkey New Year's day dinner party. They don't really hit it off and she hopes never to see the rude, unemotional human rights lawyer again. You can guess what follows.

If the plot sounds a tad familiar, then well done for paying attention during those dry old English lit classes at school. Thanks to a ouija board and a pack of tarot card, Helen Fielding, the writer of Bridget Jones's Diary (newspaper column, best selling novels and now smash hit film), was able to collaborate with the very dead Jane Austen and use the plot from Pride and Prejudice.

In fact Colin Firth shot to stardom following his role as Mr Darcy in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, a few years ago. In it he played an unemotional, over privileged, rude man with an upper lip so stiff it could be used as a load bearing wall. This time his character is completely different as he doesn't wear tight breeches and overly high collars. The Noddy Holder sideburns are, thankfully, still in place.

Luckily Hugh Grant was chosen to add spice and originality to the role of the fun loving cad. A part that needed the slimy ooziness of Terry Thomas or Leslie Phillips (ding dong). And Hugh gave a virtuoso performance as...well..ah...um......ah.....yes.......um......himself. Full marks to Hugh, he does play himself incredibly well, he really gets under his own skin. He is obviously method acting as you can genuinely believe he has fully become himself.

If I've given the impression this film is mutton dressed up as lamb, then I need to put on my best Hugh Grant voice and say...ah.....um....sorry..........ah....ah..sorry.....yes.....sorry. As it isn't. It's a very good film. An incredibly enjoyable film that made popcorn shoot out of my mouth when unexpected laughter took hold of me (another sorry, this time to the people in row H). And there are lots of truly original moments, like the very English street fight between the two well brought-up men.

Mr Grant and Mr Firth do act their socks off and are both very impressive. (But they have had a lot of practice at these two roles). Renee Zellweger is definitely the star of the film, making me cringe with embarrassment when she had to speak in public and I did end up hopping this mad middle class madam would eventually find happiness in something other than booze, food and fags.

It was nice to see a leading lady sporting a normal body. No half starved twiglet suffering from I-want-the-waist-of-a-twelve-year-old-itus, with silicon balloons superglued to her chest cavity. It's the first time I've ever seen a big name actress with a bottom (described by her uncle as one you could park your bike in and rest your pint on). Although she was far from being fat.

As for American Zellweger's English accent, it was really rather jolly good. A little strange at times and quite hard to fit a post code to, but if I hadn't known she was from the colonies I would have sworn she was from somewhere in the home counties.

Poor Bridget Jones is from the Cosmopolitan generation. She's a women who learns her life skills from glossy magazines and self help books. She aspires to life long happiness with men who are barely equipped to deal with the emotional turmoil of boiling an egg. She was born into a middle class world where everyone must be happy all the time, but no one ever is. Bridget Jones was born to be a post feminist icon, women love her and identify with her, but would never, ever admit to being like her.

How strange is that?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Funny and meaningful
Review: I absolutely loved this movie. Every woman will be able to identify with her thoughts and Diary. I honestly don't know many men who would enjoy this movie, but it's not your usual "chick flick" and will at least entertain you; promise!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bloody Hilarious!
Review: Ah, alas. A romantic comedy that is actually funny. I almost didn't see this movie, because I had glanced at Helen Fielding's novel, which the film is based on, and it didn't seem interesting at all. In fact, my co-worker and I used to make fun of the book. So naturally, when I saw that they were actually making a movie out of the book, I groaned, thinking it was a stupid idea.

Boy, was I wrong. Bridget Jones's Diary is the best romantic comedy I think I have ever seen. It's sweet and charming, and it has some real laugh-out-loud moments. The heart of the film is Renee Zellweger, who is not British but who does such a wonderful British accent, you would never know she is American. She does a beautiful job as Bridget. Hugh Grant is excellent, as usual. I think he's at his best when his characters are jerks and players. And Colin Firth, whom I had never seen before, is outstanding as Mark Darcy, the straight-laced, never-seems-to-smile foe/friend/romantic interest of Bridget's.

My co-worker finally watched it the other day and loved it. After discussing it for a few minutes, I remembered how much I loved it, and went right home that day and watched it again! The DVD includes behind-the-scenes featurettes, a couple of music videos, deleted scenes, and director's commentary. The only thing missing, in my opinion, is a cast commentary. The three leads all have great chemistry together, and it would have been interesting to get their input. But other than that, I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys romantic comedies. Yes, it's a chick flick, but I think it's one that could even appeal to guys as well. It's well-written and well-acted, and it's still good even after multiple viewings.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Entertaining film
Review: This is a good film; superb performances all around, especially by Colin Firth. I have not read the book, so I can't compare, but I know that the author of the book is a co-writer on this films' screenplay. This is the first comedy I have seen in a while that had a serious, meaningful fight (Grant and Firth) instead of one full of innapropriate humor and Matrix parodies. This is also the first comedy that I've seen in a while where someone wants to say something mean about a coworker in front of a bunch of people (Bridget and Fitzherbert), but finds a way to hold back. In that sense, this is not only a comedy, it is a classy film. Bottom line: Rent it but don't buy it. Thank you for taking the time to read my review and God Bless America!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Read the Book!
Review: This was one of the few times when I read a book before watching its movie version, and I'm glad I did. The book was charming, funny and witty and while the movie did have all those qualities itself, I think that if I would have seen it first, I would not have had the motivation to read the book. The entire time I was watching it, I felt like when they planned this movie out, all they wanted to do was cram the best parts of the book into two hours and kind of force viewers to love it, rather than let the story flow naturally and have them discover for themselves what was so appealing about it in the first place. Bsically it seemed somewhat rushed and strained. There were a few discrepancies in the storyline but none so drastic that they detracted from the original plot. The bottom line is, while it was quite well-casted and acted, I believe the movie failed to fully showcase exactly what it is that is so likeable about Bridget Jones.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An enjoyable film with fun performances.
Review: A Bright, Intelligent Woman named Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is having problems in finding a man of her dreams. She`s having a relationship with her Boss (Hugh Grant), thinking that he could be the right man for her but she takes a liking in a man (Colin Firth) could be right for her.

Directed by Sharon Maguire, which is her first film, she`s directing. She made a clever, often hilarious adapation of the Popular-Helen Fielding`s Book. Which Fielding also Exective Produced the film and also Co-Wrote the Screenplay with Andrew Davies (Circle of Friends) and Richard Curtis (Four Wedding and a Funeral). Zellweger gives a terrific performance with a perfect faux british accent. Firth and Grant gives also likeable performances. DVD`s has a bright anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer and an fine Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DVD`s has an commentary track by the Director, Deleted Scenes, Behind the Scenes featurette, Movie Videos and the original Bridget Jones`s Diary Columns. This film is a acclaimed Crowd Pleaser, see it. Super 35. Grade:A-.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Ack! Fabulous Flick-Wittage!
Review: Renee Zellweger IS Bridget Jones, in my opinion, perhaps because I saw the movie before I read the book. Who else can convey Bridget's myriad and truly unique emotions with a simple roll of the eyes and a lift of the eyebrow? She makes us love her as she struggles with her "singleton" life as a 30s-something Brit who just can't quite get anything right.

Having watched the movie again AFTER reading the book, I was even more enchanted with her wonderful performance. And of course the addition of Colin Firth as an updated Mister Darcy, parodying his own performance as the haughty and brooding Darcy in the BBC version of "Pride and Prejudice," is simply too delicious to miss. As Bridget devotees know, Bridget and her girlfriends have quite an obsession with Mr. Firth...and he plays along with the joke without once letting us down.

It is Hugh Grant, however, who gave me pause. Hugh plays Hugh, as he always does, but this time he's the villain, if you will--Bridget's faithless and rotten boss Daniel, who loves her and leaves her a number of times. I just couldn't quite see Hugh as the bad guy, and he did not, to my mind, resemble the nasty user in the book. On the other hand, I always find him a delight, so this weakness did not ruin the movie for me.

For those who like their movies to be absolute replicas of the book, this is not the one to watch. Rather, it is a delightful, fast-paced and maybe a little bit frenzied hodgepodge of bits and pieces of the book, with a little more thrown in. Some memorable parts of the book, such as Bridget's battle with the "nasty underpants," are taken out of context, but still very funny. The book's gentle parody of Pride and Prejudice is still in evidence, and very funny, thanks to the above-mentioned deadpan performance by Firth. Bridget is no Elizabeth Bennett, but the whole thing works, somehow, just as it did in the book.

This is the kind of movie to pop into the VCR whilst drinking a bottle of wine with one's girlfriends in front of the telly. It doesn't get old, and it is simply pure pleasure.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bridget Jones, Wanton Sex Goddess
Review: No better way to spend an evening. I LOVE this movie. Colin Firth and Hugh Grant are excellent! And what is there to say about Renee? She's wonderful! Can't wait for a sequel!


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