Bridget Jones's Diary review by Orlando C. Fernando June 27, 2001 Storyline: 8(0=worst, 10=best) Originality: 6 Acting: 8 Special Effects: 0 Overall: B+ (F=worst, A=best)

Briget Jones is a newspaper publisher trapped in the oh-so familiar life of forever being single.
The opening scene where she drunkenly lip syncs to Celine Dion's version of "All By Myself" on her stereo sums up how low a lonely bachelorette can be. She goes through her 20's drinking too much, smoking too much, eating too much, and flirting and fooling around with the wrong guys. At 30, after a typical boring huge family Christmas party, and yet another failed social encounter with a family-fixed-up guy (Colin Furth) she resolves to change her life. In a daily diary, she records her weight, number of cigarettes, and whether or not she found "the man", the right man. The one man she feels is right, unfortunately, is her boss at the book publishing company (Hugh Grant). So the story is the craziness and ups and downs she goes through to find the right man.

Some scenes are typical elements of "chick flicks".
"Chick flick" is a often derogatory term used by men to indicate a movie only woman would like - typically romance and romantic-comedy movies. Some scenes in this movie support that, including the botched up efforts to impress either a man or society in general where she tries hard to be one way and in public, she turns out completely the opposite. In mid-film, when she has a journalist assignment where she has to "respectfully" slide down a fireman's pole in a skirt, you know what disaster it could lead to. It equally suffers from predictability mainly in the first third of the film, again because of the "chick flick" genre. However, there are some elements that break that.

Renee Zellweger portrays Bridget's struggles very well.
This is one element that helps make this movie work. She portrays the pathetic elements of her character with the right combination of comedy and sympathy in the scenes that require it. I understood that she even put on weight to accurately portray Bridget's girth. But she does have a sort of Meg Ryan cuteness which helps and hurts. It makes you wonder how such a woman can be single for so long while at the same time gives her a warm character to empathize with.

Characterizations help the plot.
Hugh's and Colin's roles take some twists that keep the dynamics of the story fresh. This is what helps break the predictability later in the film and lets us wonder what Bridget should do next and if she'll succeed in it (even right up 'til the end). Definitely the second element to break the movie genre.

Overall, it does well as a UK romantic comedy.
Most of the secondary characters, save for Bridget's father and mother, are one dimensional cookie cutter characters created mainly for comedy aspects. Good performance by Hugh Grant. Wonderful performance by Renee and Colin. And would you believe the real book author Salmon Rushdie is in it? Good not overly-sappy formula for an enjoyable romantic comedy. It is worth either movie admission or video rental.

Copyright 2001 by Orlando C. Fernando. Exception is picture of Renee Zellweger from The Bucket. (if copyright-abused, please inform me and I will remove the picture promptly). This page is for personal use only. It may be openly distributed for nonprofit in whole or part, but authorship must be credited.