BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Michael Morris
Stars: Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Casper Knopf, Mila Jankovic, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Isla Fisher, Jim Broadbent, Shirley Henderson, Celia Imrie, James Callis, Gemma Jones, Sally Phillips, Jeff Mirza.
I was not expecting much from this fourth instalment in the Bridget Jones series which has come nine years after Bridget Jones’s Baby, but I was pleasantly surprised by this film. Much of my enjoyment was due to Zellweger’s committed performance as Bridget Jones, who experiences many awkward and embarrassing incidents in the film. This is her first film since her Oscar winning turn as Judy Garland in the 2019 biopic Judy.
The Bridget Jones series of books were written by Helen Fielding and followed the trials and tribulations of the titular character as she navigated life, love, the dating scene, family and friendship circles. In this fourth film she is now a widow and a single mother raising two young children – Billy (Casper Knopf, from Macbeth, etc) and Mabel (Mila Jankovic, in her film debut) – which presents its own unique set of challenges. Her husband Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), a civil rights lawyer, apparently died four years earlier while on a humanitarian mission in Sudan. Bridget is still trying to come to terms with her loss and still has trouble getting herself organised most mornings. She is nearly always late getting her children to school and is told off by the aloof and uptight Mr Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Billy’s science teacher, who views his whistle as an “essential tool” of teaching.
She spends most of her days still dressed in a dressing gown. Her concerned circle of friends urge her to try and reconnect via a dating app.
During an outing to the local park with her children Bridget finds herself stuck up a tree. Coming to her rescue are Mr Wallaker and Roxster (Leo Woodall, from tv series The White Lotus, etc), a hunky park attendant, who soon befriends her on Tinder. Bridget finds herself attracted to the sexy younger man and begins a relationship with her, which helps him get her groove back. Bridget also begins returns to work as a producer on a television talk show.
And as with the original Bridget Jones’s Diary, she finds herself having to choose between two potential suitors – the uptight teacher and the hunky Roxster.
Fielding herself has adapted her own novel for the screen, with input from Dan Mazer (Borat, etc) and Abi Morgan (Suffragette, etc). They deliver plenty of physical comedy, with lots of pratfalls as well as snappy one-liners and sight gags. But the film also deals with some more serious themes including overcoming grief, family, the trials of single parenthood, and balancing work and personal life. Bridget Jones: Man About The Boy comes nine years after Bridget Jones’s Baby, and an element of sadness permeates the material given the loss of her husband.
Zellweger is familiar with the character and her idiosyncrasies and slips comfortably back into the role. She also throws herself into the physical comedy with gusto. Woodall steams up the screen as the hunky Leo, and he seems to have the same charismatic and sexy presence as Glenn Powell. Ejiofor lends dignity to his role as the aloof teacher Mr Wallaker, who lightens up as the film progresses. The two young actors who play Bridget’s children bring humour and charm to their roles. Isla Fisher is good as Rebecca, a demanding and opinionated mother of twins.
I also liked the way the filmmakers have included small cameos for most of the familiar characters from the earlier films, which adds a nostalgic touch to the material. Colin Firth appears mainly as a ghostly figure here, while Jim Broadbent briefly reprises his role as Bridget’s ailing father. Emma Thompson is a hoot as Bridget’s gynecologist. Hugh Grant is superb as Daniel Cleaver, her former lover, and nobody plays a lecherous reprobate like Grant, and he gets some of the biggest laughs.
Director Michael Morris has spent the better part of the past decade working in television, but he brings a suitably light hand to the material and brings a fresh perspective to the familiar characters. However, some scenes smacked of padding, unnecessarily stretching the run time to just shy of two hours. The film could have done with some trimming.
Nonetheless fans of Bridget Jones will enjoy this fourth, and possibly final, film in the series!
★★★
