Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) starring Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Jacinda Barrett, Sally Phillips, Paul Nicholls directed by Beeban Kidron Movie Review

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Colin Firth and Renée Zellweger in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)

Bridget Over Troubled Waters

The first time I watched "Bridget Jones's Diary" I hated it but after a few more viewings I slowly warmed to it. Maybe that will be the same with "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" because after watching it twice I can't say it did much for me but maybe I will warm to it to. But in truth I don't think I will because "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" is not as good as the first movie lacking much of the charm and replacing it with gags which over do Bridget's accident prone ways which end up detracting from what storyline there is.

Life is good for Bridget (Renée Zellweger - Down with Love) as she now has Mark Darcy (Colin Firth - Love Actually) in her life but it doesn't take long for the insecurities to settle in as she begins to wonder whether Mark is attracted to someone else. It doesn't help matters that after a very brief honeymoon period they discover they have very different views on life especially when for a brief moment Bridget suspects she might be pregnant. To make matters worse her former lover Daniel Carver (Hugh Grant) has made a name for himself presenting a travel show and she finds herself in Thailand with him where even more mishaps befall her.

Renée Zellweger and Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)

So where as "Bridget Jones's Diary" was all about Bridget getting to grips with her life and finding a man "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" is all about the difficulties that Bridget faces being in love. So we have Bridget suspecting that Mark maybe having an affair and also discovering that they have very little in common despite Mark loving her wobbly bits. That all sounds quite good because it is the next stage in Bridget's life but unfortunately the storyline sort of takes a backseat in favour of the set piece gags and much of it feels too fanciful.

The knock on effect of this is that "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" ends up coming across a movie of set piece gags from a disastrous report on parachute jumping to an incident whilst on a ski lift. It's not so much that the gags are wrong because watching Bridget fall from a ski lift is funny but there are too many of them and becomes a case that we spend too much time laughing at Bridget rather than feeling for her when she makes a mistake. Not all of these jokes work and a certain scene revolving a Thai prison and a sing along to "Like a Virgin" is just too far fetched to work and isn't even funny.

Because "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" becomes all about the humour with the characters coming second they end up feeling like they haven't progressed by the time the movie is over. It also means that Renée Zellweger as Bridget is not as loveable as she was first time around because far too often she ends up a joke and unfortunately Colin Firth ends up more pompous than ever as Mark. Talking of which we get a rerun of the Mark Daniel fight which should be hilarious yet this time it ends up feeling like a desperate attempt to include what was funny the first time around.

What this all boils down to is that "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" was a disappointment and unlike the first movie I don't think it will ever grow on me. The balance of humour and story is wrong this time around and Bridget ends up the butt of too many jokes even if some of them are funny.

Tags: British Romantic Comedies


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