TL;DR – In a cup, add a heaped measure of situational comedy, a tablespoon of second-hand embarrassment & a squeeze of authentic charm. Shake it up and pour over the realisation that you are getting older & serve with a garnish of the exploration of life after death.

Post-Credit Scene – There are items during the credits.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy Review –

Now, I should be a bit clear: up until this point, I have never watched a Bridget Jones film before. When they first came out, I was very much not the target audience, but as you get older, you realise that target audiences are bogus and you should be experiencing a variety of medias. It also looked like this was going to be a bit of a soft reboot, so it was the perfect time to jump in. Little did I know just how right I was.  

So, to set the scene, it has been four years since Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) was tragically killed during a humanitarian mission overseas. Since then, Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) has been spending time at home trying to raise her two children alone, working through both their and her grief. But as the anniversary of Mark’s death draws near, Bridget is forced to look at her life and wonder if she is doing the right thing for her and her kids. But even though everyone has an opinion on how she should approach life, especially those nasty school mums, she needs to find her own way. But it won’t hurt if the new teacher Mr. Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and local ranger Roxster (Leo Woodall) help change her perspectives.    

While I have never watched a Bridget Jones film before, I did grow up in that era, so I did at least come in with a vague idea of who Bridget, Darcy, and even Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) were. So, I think that did help the situation. However, I believe even if you had come into this film with absolutely no reference material before, you would still be able to follow what is going on quickly. This is because the movie does a good job of forwarding the critical information that you need to know about who the characters are and their motivations. Bridget’s internal narration does a lot of the heavy lifting there. But much of the cast has been in these films for so long that there is an evident bond, and those layers of friendship help create a foundation that you can use to work your way through the narrative. The only odd thing I noticed is that I think that either Isla Fisher’s plot line got cut in the edit, or I missed something as to why she was there.  

What I did not expect when I sat down to view this film was how emotional I would get watching it. My impression coming into this was that it was all going to be a bit silly with a love triangle will-they/won’t-they pull us through the story. To be clear, that is true; the ‘Mad About the Boy’ descriptor is fair. However, what I was not expecting was the honest exploration of the lingering effect grief has on you. Is there life after death? Do we have a soul? How do you go on when everyone says you are just like your dead father? How do you grieve when you never knew your father because he died when you were young? What happens if the kids like the nanny better than me if I go back to work? Each of those questions hit like a punch to the gut, which was helped in part by Colin Firth popping up in those peak moments to hammer the point across. It is here where Renée Zellweger shines, being the bridge between the narrative and the audience.  

Structurally, this is a comedy that leans heavily into the second-hand embarrassment style, where you are just as likely to internally cringe as you are to laugh out loud. On that front, it exceeds in spades. Sure, it makes no sense how those kids got up the tree, but was it one of the funniest things when Mr. Wallaker arrives to find Bridget stuck halfway up trying to get them down? Absolutely. One of the reasons why all of this works so much is because every character is oozing with charm, especially Hugh Grant. So, even those who might just as well be cameos in the film, like Emma Thompson, all land like an anvil with some of the best line deliveries in the business.   

But at the core, this is a sort of love triangle, and then on that front, how did the film work? Well, I don’t believe that it is too spoilery to say that I think you will know right from the start of the film just how that will play out. Thankfully, the film also knows this, and so there is a dialogue there with the audience which helps. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Leo Woodall are both a delight and perfectly capture the vibe that they are going for. They also both get some of the funniest lines in the film, which is always a delight. Honestly, how that all works out is quite charming and one of the best parts of the film, and you can’t stop having a smile on your face while thinking about it.         

In the end, do we recommend Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy? If romantic comedies are your jam, then absolutely. If you need something for Valentine’s Day, then this is the best for you. But if you want to watch something fun that will also probably make you cry at some point, then I would also recommend checking this out. Have you watched Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.If you liked Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, we would recommend to you Ticket to Paradise.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Directed by – Michael Morris
Screenplay by – Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer & Abi Morgan
Based on – Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding
Music by – Dustin O’Halloran
Cinematography by – Suzie Lavelle
Edited by – Mark Day
Production/Distribution Companies – StudioCanal, Miramax, Working Title Films & Universal Pictures
Starring – Renée Zellweger, Mila Jankovic, Casper Knopf, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Sally Phillips, Dolly Wells, James Callis, Shirley Henderson, Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Sarah Solemani, Josette Simon, Neil Pearson, Nico Parker, Celia Imrie, Isla Fisher, Leila Farzad, Neil Edmond, Mark Lingwood, Anat Dychtwald, Penny Stuttaford, Ben Illis, Claire Skinner, James Rawlings, Ruth Gibson, Toby Whithouse, Ian Midlane, Jane Fowler, Ellie White, Rohan Berry, Isla Ashworth & Joanna Scanlan
Rating – Australia: na; Canada: na; Germany: na; New Zealand: na; United Kingdom: 15; United States: R