Bridget Jones Diary (Movie Review)

Bridget Jones is a single thirty-something British journalist who wants to start taking care of herself. Her resolution is to drink less, smoke less and stay away from bad boyfriends.

Her parents try to set her up with their neighbours’ son Mark. She doesn’t get along with him, and is smitten by her boss Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant).

1. It’s a comedy

When an unlucky single woman, Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger), gets the idea to start a daily journal that will help her achieve her New Year’s resolutions, she thinks it will be a way to channel her shaky self-control and get her on track. But when she falls for her boss Daniel Cleaver, she’s in a serious dilemma.

This hilarious adaptation of Helen Fielding’s 1996 novel by Richard Curtis, Andrew Davies and Maguire is a comedy, a romance, and a satire all in one. It charts a year in the life of an overweight British career girl whose self-esteem issues are brought to the surface.

She tries to shed her sexy ways and become a better person by cutting out drinking, smoking, sweets, and chocolate. She also aims to avoid dating alcoholics, workaholics, peeping Toms and perverts.

Thankfully, Bridget is aided by a group of friends and co-workers that she can turn to for support. She learns from her chums, Shazza (Sally Phillips), Jude (Shirley Henderson) and Tom (James Callis), that she can be loyal even when love doesn’t blossom.

The brash humor of the film and its satire of social conventions are a delight. But the transition to screen stripped out much of Fielding’s wry irony and nuance.

2. It’s a romance

As a fan of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice, I was drawn to this spunky little rom-com that’s loosely based on Helen Fielding’s novel and a 1995 miniseries. It’s not perfect, and some elements have gone on to be overused in subsequent rom-coms, but the film does what it sets out to do: tell an engaging, entertaining story with character growth at its core.

Bridget (Renée Zellweger) is an accident-prone 32-year-old who can’t seem to get her career, weight or love life under control. After a particularly embarrassing start to the New Year, she decides to start a diary to hold herself accountable for her missteps.

She makes some important New Year’s resolutions: to quit drinking and smoking, stop being paranoid about her weight, and avoid any romantic attachments to alcoholics, workaholics, peeping Toms or perverts. But she soon gets caught up in the charms of Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), her boss, who’s a total cad of the highest order.

It’s a long, meandering movie — a bit like Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice — that takes time to explore all the facets of Bridget’s life. And director Sharon Maguire, debuting as a features director, doesn’t duck showing how Bridget’s melancholy parents and her flighty best friends shape her.

3. It’s a romantic comedy

Bridget Jones’s Diary is a great romantic comedy, one of the best to come out since Clueless. This smart, sassy, and thoroughly enjoyable movie is based on the novel by Helen Fielding and was directed by newcomer Sharon Maguire.

The movie follows accident-prone 32-year-old Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) as she tries to get her career, her body, and her love life together. She starts a diary to hold herself accountable, but that soon gets her into trouble with her boss Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) and uptight lawyer Mark Darcy (Colin Firth).

While it may sound like a formulaic romantic comedy that keeps throwing its protagonist back into love triangles, Bridget Jones’s Diary succeeds because of the way in which it introduces relatability to rom-coms. It aims to be a story that can be enjoyed by women of all ages, which is something most lesser rom-coms fail to do.

The film also features several excellent supporting characters, including Jude (James Callis), a once-famous gay pop star who snarks at everything; Sharon “Shazza” Jones (Sally Phillips), a small business executive who swears like there’s no tomorrow; and brutally honest Tom (Jamie Chung). This cast does a terrific job of capturing the awkwardness that comes with being an over-30 unmarried woman in the modern age.

4. It’s a satire

Bridget Jones’s Diary was a popular work of satire written by Helen Fielding. It is a lighthearted and humourous read that can be enjoyed by everyone.

Besides the humour, Bridget Jones’s Diary also satirized certain aspects of modern society. For example, it criticized women’s obsession with love and romance. It was also a lampoon of women’s magazines like Cosmopolitan.

However, it is important to remember that satire does not necessarily mean that it is a bad piece of writing. It simply means that it is not the type of writing that everyone wants to read.

The popularity of Bridget Jones’s Diary also demonstrates that many people enjoy reading about the life of a pissed-off London thirty-something. Hence, it is no wonder that the book became a hit.

If you want to watch a comedy about the life of a pissed-off thirty-something, then you should definitely go for this film. Besides the comedy, it is also an excellent portrayal of the life of a woman who is determined to change her life.

5. It’s a romantic drama

The romance genre is one of the most popular movies today. If you’re looking for a romantic drama that will keep you entertained, Bridget Jones Diary may be the movie for you.

Based on Helen Fielding’s best-selling novel of the same name, the film follows a thirtysomething Londoner who struggles with her love life. It stars Renee Zellweger as a self-deprecating, self-loathing woman who tries to be more confident and poised.

In the movie, Bridget has a number of different boyfriends, including one from her publishing company. She also has a relationship with a human rights lawyer named Mark Darcy, which she initially dislikes until she meets him again at a New Year’s party.

As a film, Bridget Jones Diary is a well-made, heartwarming, entertaining and funny movie that will appeal to audiences in the U.K. and may even do well at the American box office.

The movie is rich in character quality and story lines. There’s a great three-way friendship between Bridget, her two best friends and her boss Daniel Cleaver (played by Hugh Grant). The film has subplots that involve the characters’ family relationships. It’s also very touching when Bridget discovers that her father abandoned her mother for the sake of a fey TV host.

6. It’s a comedy-drama

If you’re looking for a romantic comedy with laughs, then bridget jones diary is the movie for you. Renee Zellweger is charming as a clumsy and insecure British woman who drinks too much, smokes too much, and has bad boyfriends.

In a bid to get her life in order, Bridget vows to lose weight, stop smoking, and find a better boyfriend. Her journey to self-improvement is replete with hilarious misadventures in London.

Aside from her scheming boss Daniel (Hugh Grant), who thrives on bad behavior, she also has to deal with her haughty and beautiful work colleague Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). As in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Bridget’s prejudice against Mark is leveled, and they eventually fall in love.

The film is based on Helen Fielding’s best-selling novel of the same name, but it’s also adapted from a Jane Austen story. While this is a well-made movie, it does have its flaws.

For one thing, the film is pretty dated and feels like a 1990s book. It also carries awful sexism, and a lot of the characters are misogynistic. Moreover, Bridget fails to learn any real lessons throughout the movie, and her character doesn’t really grow or improve in any way.

7. It’s a comedy-romance

A comedy-romance is a type of movie that’s made for people who want to laugh and feel good at the same time. It features meet-cutes, sweeping kisses and witty one-liners.

It’s also a genre that tends to deal with the everyday lives of women in a way that many other mainstream movies don’t do consistently. Bridget Jones’s Diary is a great example of a comedy-romance.

The film is about a woman named Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) who has trouble finding love. She keeps a diary about her life and the things she likes and dislikes about it.

She tries to lose weight, stop smoking and drinking, and get her life together to attract a man. This is a long and difficult process for her, but she doesn’t give up.

Her workaholic boss Daniel (Hugh Grant) starts flirting with her, and she soon starts to develop feelings for him. Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), the human rights lawyer who she ridiculed at a Christmas party, starts to interest her as well.

The two start to fight over her, and she has to decide who she wants to be with. She eventually settles for her stoic Mr. Darcy, but this doesn’t come without a lot of awkwardness and drama.