Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
★★★★★ | Touching comeback
I was too young to “get” Bridget Jones when she first burst into cinemas in the early 2000s. I understood that she made my parents laugh, and I certainly found Renée Zellwegger beyond charming. But everything else flew over my head.
Almost 25 years later, I’m three years older than Bridget was in the first film, and I get it now. Just in time for her to return for one last chaotic hurrah in a bubbly film that’s as melancholy as it is sweet. How’s that for luck?
In the interim, Bridget has found love, had two kids, and tragically lost Mr. Darcy, who died between films on a peacekeeping mission to Sudan. Four years later, Bridget still can’t pick up the pieces, and Mr. Darcy continues in her life as a bittersweet memory that, even as a ghost, is so charming it hurts.
From the outset, it’s clear how much and little things have changed. Bridget is still the sweary bundle of pure energy we remember. Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) refuses to age, change, or ever let his foot off the peddle to his horny engine. Even when he’s there to watch the kids as a favor to Bridget, it’s smarmy and charming, and Grant plays the part with a surprising vulnerability that shows why Bridget — and others — can’t help but fall for this doofus.
As Bridget takes her kids to school, she encounters the dashing, if uptight, Mr. Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor, all nervous charm), and something sparks in her. It’s part hate, part pettiness, part horniness, and all Bridget. Before we know it, she’s back at work, on Tinder, and trying out how a summer fling with someone 20 years her junior works out.
You can guess where this film goes the moment it starts. That’s fine because it’s exactly where we want it to go. From the very first moment that Bridget came into our lives, we’ve wanted her to be happy. She’s relatable because she can be anyone regardless of gender. In the end, we’re all flailing one way or another, and it’s comforting to see someone end up on their feet in the end.
But what’s really surprising is how tender Mad About a Boy ultimately turns out to be. It shouldn’t be, since Bridget greets us with news of Mr. Darcy’s death, but by the end, I was in tears, and I couldn’t point to when it happened. At first, it was from sadness, and by the time the credits rolled, I could feel my heart swell. This is a wholesome, heartwarming film that reminds us that happy endings take many forms.
And it’s funny. Riotously, uncomfortably funny. Zellwegger has always been a riot, and she hasn’t lost a step in the years away from the screen. Bridget is her own worst enemy and greatest strength, and it’s always a blast to see her fumble into the most ridiculous circumstances. What delights me most is that this, like the other Bridget Jones films, is never a mean comedy. In the end, it just wants everyone to have a moment of happiness.
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy doesn’t reinvent the wheel, nor does it provoke grand realizations that shake up the genre. It doesn’t need to do any of that. Instead, it’s a remarkable film for how naturally it fits into our lives. Once more, it feels like Bridget was always there for us. Now that she’s back, it’s like seeing an old friend all over again.