Movie Review

This movie shouldn’t exist and yet here it is and it makes me so sad.

If you follow the sequence of books by author, Helen Fielding, then you know that Bridget does end up with children (Mark Darcy’s children) and there was no question of paternity. In fact, at the end of the sequel to the enormously popular novel about our beloved singleton, Mr. Darcy and Bridget go on to get married and live ever after (happily for a long time).

Though it pains me to say anything negative about one of my favourite literary and film characters, this movie is a sad addition to the “family”. 

Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016)

Bridget’s focus on single life and her career is interrupted when she finds herself pregnant, but with one hitch … she can only be fifty percent sure of the identity of her baby’s father.

Starring:  Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Patrick Dempsey

Director: Sharon Maguire

Rating/ Runtime: R- 2hr 3 min

Movie Trailer

My Thoughts…

I don’t even know where to begin. I have been putting this movie off since its release in September because I was afraid, terrified that it would be terrible. As a die-hard fan of both the original book and film I didn’t want to see Bridget turned into popcorn fodder.

Bridget Jones’s Diary is considered to be one of the defining books of the 21st century. Not only responsible for creating a genre (Chick-lit) but also helping to create a new movement of modern, independent women. It introduced the concept of your close friends being family and taught us that it was ok not to conform to the societal norms of marriage and all that it encompasses. The film adaptation was just as powerful and it was also funny as hell.

I have both read and watched it too many times to count and as a result I’m fiercely devoted to Bridget. Which is why Bridget Jones’s Baby was so hard to watch. In this movie Bridget never got her happy ending at the end of “The Edge of Reason”. History was rewritten to make a movie. A very disappointing movie.

My issue wasn’t so much with Bridget’s completely new look, though it is shocking, it was that the entire movie felt tired. Stale, forced and lacking any of the charm the original or even the sequel possessed. Granted, there were a few laughs and the introduction of a modern journal (her tablet) was kind of cool. I also liked that she finally had a career worthy of her tireless pursuit. Other than that it can be best described as “meh”. At some cringe-worthy parts I was actually embarrassed. Poor Bridget. She deserves so much better than this.

Helen Fielding should have adapted Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. It would have been shockingly different in terms of plot but at least it would have been consistent with the timeline.

I think I will just stick to rewatching my much-loved copy of the original when I need a dose of Bridget. Sorry guys but this was a dud.

Rating…D

IMDb

Wikipedia