Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy review

BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY: 

A FUNNY AND SURPRISINGLY MOVING FINAL CHAPTER OF BRIDGET’S DIARY! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

PEACOCK, UNIVERSAL PICTURES, AND MIRAMAX

Renée Zellweger in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

 

            Renée Zellweger (Chicago, Cold Mountain, Judy) returns as Bridget Jones in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, the fourth and final chapter of the Bridget Jones film series dating back to 2001 with the hit comedy, Bridget Jones’s Diary. On the surface, these films seem like the most generic, uninspired, chick flick/rom-com fluff you could find on par with a Garry Marshall movie like Runaway Bride or The Princess Diaries. 

            But I was quite surprised when I watched Bridget Jones’s Diary for the first time years ago and found it very funny and even heartwarming at times without it being overly shmaltzy or formulaic. Sure, it relies on a lot of love-triangle clichés but it works because of Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant’s performances and some very witty dialogue, it’s a solid rom-com that’s coming from someone who doesn’t really follow the genre that much. 

            The 2004 sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason is objectively the worst in the series and repeats many of the same beats as the first, but even that movie has its share of funny moments and once again Zellweger, Firth, and Grant have great onscreen chemistry despite the subpar material. 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby I watched for the first time the day before watching this one and much like the first, I was pleasantly surprised and thought it was a very charming third chapter where Bridget gets pregnant and she’s unsure who the father is between Colin Firth’s Mark Darcy and a new second love interest character played by Patrick Dempsey. 

            Which brings us to the fourth and final film, Mad About the Boy with Michael Morris (To Leslie) directing and the film skipping an American theatrical release and going straight to the Peacock streaming service (It was released in theaters in the UK). After watching it, I have to say Universal dumping this on Peacock instead of releasing it in US theaters was an incredibly stupid decision because not only is this a great Bridget Jones film but it’s the best since the 2001 original. 

            The film follows Bridget Jones (Zellweger) who is now a widowed mother after her husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth-Love Actually, The King’s Speech, Kingsman 1 and 2; who still appears in the film through Bridget’s memories) was killed in a humanitarian mission in Sudan. She tries her best to raise her two children with some assistance by a new nanny named Chloe (Nico Parker-Dumbo (2019), The Third Day, Reminiscence) and Bridget’s womanizing ex-boyfriend, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant-Paddington 2, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Heretic) and even jumps back into the dating pool. 

            However, once she starts dating again, Bridget soon finds herself caught between a younger man (Leo Woodall-Cherry, The White Lotus, One Day) and her son’s science teacher, Mr. Scott Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor-12 Years a Slave, The Martian, Doctor Strange 1 and 2). 

            The film also stars Emma Thompson (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Nanny McPhee 1 and 2, Saving Mr. Banks) reprising her role as Dr. Rawlings, Jim Broadbent (Brazil, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Paddington trilogy) reprising his role as Colin Jones, Gemma Jones (Sense and Sensibility, Harry Potter franchise, Rocketman) reprising her role as Pamela Jones, Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers, Strays, Dog Man) as Rebecca, Josette Simon (Milk and Honey, Wonder Woman, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu) as Talitha, Leila Farzad (I Hate Suzie, The Marvels, Kaos) as Nicolette, Sarah Solemani (Skins, Bad Education, Greed) reprising her role as Miranda, Sally Phillips (Veep, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Blinded by the Light) reprising her role as Sharon “Shazza”, Shirley Henderson (Harry Potter franchise, Frozen (2005), Okja) reprising her role as Jude, James Callis (Battlestar Galactica, Eureka, Austenland) reprising his role as Tom, Celia Imrie (Nanny McPhee, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 1 and 2, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again) reprising her role as Una Alconbury, and Ian Midlane (Doctors, The Last Witness, Young Sherlock) as Paul. 

            Overall, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is definitely the most emotion driven of the Bridget Jones films, but it’s still balanced out with plenty of laughs and charm, not to mention Zellweger’s always delightful onscreen presence. Saying Zellweger is great is a huge understatement and she excels at both strong comedic timing and the somber, dramatic moments. 

This is easily the most I cared for her Bridget Jones character out of the films because it explores a different side of her, grief over her husband’s death. You really feel the pain she’s going through and her struggles of trying to raise her children all by herself and re-enter the world for the first time in ages and Zellweger’s performance as the titular character is what truly makes it work though it probably won’t gain awards attention compared to Cold Mountain and Judy, but this is still Renée Zellweger Bridget Jones at her best. 

Hugh Grant’s Daniel Cleaver is probably the most evolved out of all the returning characters as he’s gone from womanizing creep to a supportive ex-lover to Bridget and their scenes together are quite touching at times which is crazy given their past. Chiwetel Ejiofor is no replacement for Colin Firth, but I actually really enjoyed his character here who is first presented as a stern school teacher, but as he starts to spend time with Bridget and her kids becomes very charming and lovable over the course of the film.  

 What really shocked me about this film was the fact that Bridget Jones 4 (BRIDGET JONES 4 OF ALL MOVIES!) actually got me in the feels a few times regarding Colin Firth’s Mark Darcy character. Whether it’s him appearing in Bridget’s head when she remembers him or this genuinely beautiful scene involving Bridget and her kids releasing helium balloons with messages to their deceased husband/father and one more scene towards the end involving a solo song performance by her son, these moments I found very effective and well-handled. 

The movie is still a comedy and there are some very funny scenes and lines here, one in particular involving Emma Thompson and “Twat” that had me laughing hard. Bridget’s monologue still has plenty of witty dialogue and another funny scene where she’s unable to log into Netflix because the passwords are incorrect (I dare not give away what they are). 

Much like the first Bridget Jones and Bridget Jones’s Baby, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy was a pleasant surprise and a worthy concluding chapter to Bridget’s diary with laughs, tears, and homages to the earlier films that I’m sure people who have been watching these movies since 2001 will appreciate. Much like the diary itself, I must now bookend this review.