Bridget Jones's Diary

Yes, I know...I suck. This is the first new post in a week. I hadn't seen this movie until recently because I always thought, "Ewww, chick flick". I received Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason for my birthday because my friend was insistent that I had to see them (Thank you, Amber!). Anyhoo, I really, really like both of them.

Directed by Sharon Maguire, this film is based on Helen Fielding's popular novel of the same name. Renee Zellweger stars as Bridget Jones, a single thirty something woman living in Britain, who is looking for love and ways to improve herself. Bridget feels she's one of the only 30's something single women in a world full of couples. Her parents are attempting to fix her up with a neighbour's son, a human rights lawyer names Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). However, they don't really hit it off. She soon falls for her boss, the charming, womanizing Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) when they begin an inter-office affair.


It's a fairly straightforward romantic comedy. Everybody is well cast and there is a lot of great humour, mostly in Bridget's internal dialogue. She's refreshing because most rom coms have a lead character that is charmingly clutzy (Debra Messing, Wedding Date) or adorably neurotic (Meg Ryan, When Harry Met Sally) so that the average woman can sympathize with them and they will be likable. However, even when they show their "faults" they're still disgustingly cute (Kate Hudson, How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days). Bridget really, truly embarrasses herself. Not only that, she's not a size 6. Everybody made such a big deal because she gained 25 lbs for this role. Ooooh, so she was what.....125lbs? Anyhoo, it was easy to root for her.


There's a few things that bother me about romantic comedies. One is how seemingly easy it is for the characters to fall in love. It seems like the general rule of thumb is that the two main characters have to be annoyed as hell by the other one until they realize that they love each other. They don't only have to be annoyed and bicker with each other, but they have to run to that person the second they realize they really love them to give them that big "this is how I feel about you, even though you annoy the hell out of me" speech. But the stakes have to be high, that other person has to be either boarding a plane to Timbuktu or walking down the aisle to get married to someone else when they give their big speech. But in Must Love Dogs, Diane Lane's character can't wait one more second to tell John Cusack's character how she feels, and can't even wait until he docks his canoe. She jumps into the lake and swims to his boat. In rom com land, these gestures are considered romantic and touching instead of psychotic and needy like they would be if they happened in real life. It's still a good movie, but mostly escapism.

From the part of the film after the man she really loves leaves and her friends try to cheer her up........

Shazzer: Exactly. I mean there's been all these bloody hints and stuff, but has he ever actually stuck his fucking tongue down your fucking throat?
Bridget: No. Not once!

More ramblings to come.......