Bridget Jones’ Baby is the long-awaited sequel in the Bridget Jones saga, and it does not disappoint. Far too much of the focus in the upcoming movie has been on Renée Zellweger’s face, which is ridiculous given her completely sublime acting that had the cinema audience falling back in love with her alongside Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and billionaire romantic Jack Quant (Patrick Dempsey). Her performance had echoes of the past, but was no way stuck in it; somehow she balanced the magic of allowing her audience to reminisce over the past two films whilst also being progressive in humour and plot.
The film begins with Bridget as a high powered career woman, who is holding her ground amongst her 30-something co-workers whilst also trying to keep happy around her old friends who are now married and all having babies, the tipping points being her 43rd birthday, a huge music festival with a cameo from Ed Sheeran and a christening. These events set into motion the pregnancy and desperate quest to ‘find the right daddy’ .
Both leading men of the film are also highly impressive, although possibly highly controversially I’d say Patrick Dempsey was far more charming and humorous than Colin Firth in most of the film. New blood really did help the film reinvigorate itself for new and old audiences alike. Sarah Solemani as Miranda, Bridget’s best friend at work, is also a brilliant new asset to the movie, as she works very well in comedic partnership with Bridget as well as solo, and her comedic mishaps in the workplace are a well of humour frequently tapped into throughout the film.
Humour in this film is excellently developed by all of the actors, but especially by Emma Thompson who supports and ridicules Bridget through her pregnancy and birth, and without doubt has some of the funniest lines in the entire production, and the talent and charisma to pull them off marvellously. The comparison of the paternity test at the end to the final of The X Factor and her repeated “unique and wonderful” baby scans for each father being two such comedic highlights.
The only slight flaw you could possibly see in my opinion is the ending. Hugh Grant’s staunch refusal to return to the film as the sex-addict charmer Daniel Cleaver was dealt with in a tragic turned humorous manner which allowed audiences to forget his existence in the duration of the film, so this was no problem for the production. However the ending could be said to leave the audience a bit unsatisfied as we were breezed past a whole year into Bridget’s wedding where paternity of the baby is presented in a slightly disjointed method, leaving some confused and others a tiny bit disappointed the series didn’t have a bigger ending.
Despite this, the film is still brilliant and I’d say the best Bridget of the three. Yes, there may be less chasing of men as it is now the men who fight over her but it’s about time for that! Bridget Jones’ Baby is a fantastic feel-good phenomenon that should be seen by everyone, and then seen again! If you want to go to the cinema and properly laugh out loud for a couple of hours, this will not let you down.
Cathy Cooper
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Media Sourced from Life News, Marie Clare and Slate
