Based on the novels by Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones is a British rom-com film series starring Renne Zellweger in the lead. The three movies, which have been released over 16 years, have successfully grossed over $756 million worldwide over their budget of $100million.
What Do The Critics Have To Say?
Sharon Maguire has directed the first and the last instalments, and BeebanKidron directs the second one, so it’s women telling women stories. The project initially started as an indie movie until Hugh Grant and Colin Firth joined aboard.
Initially, the movie did not start to be a commercial movie but rather an indie venture. A single working woman in Ney York has been a selling concept ever since Carrie Bradshaw became a column writer in Sex and The City. Lucky for them and us, too, cause the movie had every element of being the commercial success it is today.
The first movie, “Bridget Jones Diary”, is to date one of the best rom coms of all time. Loosely based on Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the movie a whopping 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. Robert Ebert gave the movie a 3.5 out of 4 possible stars. The other two movies Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and Bridget Jone’s Baby, somewhere falls short of the first one.
While discussing the second movie, Robert Ebert points out how it mainly contains comic episodes that had little or nothing to do with the storyline. The franchise takes a lift with the third movie Bridget Jones’ Baby, with Sharon Maguire reprising her role as the director. The movie went on to win two awards- ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards in the category of “Top Box Office Movie” and EDA awards in the category of AWFJ Hall of Shame.
Should You Stream It Or Skip It?
Bridget Jones is a delightful series that succeeds at almost every level. It isn’t groundbreaking with its script, there aren’t things you haven’t seen before, but the sheer warmth of the character makes it so likeable. Bridget is all woman trying to balance love and making it huge in a city. It exhibits beautifully the kind of peer pressure the families exert for settling down.
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason is a huge letdown. Even though Renne Zellweger is fabulous in reprising her role as the confused Bridget, the movie lacks all the elements that made the previous movie so good.
Bridget Jones Baby is compared to its second instalment is very good. Bridget no longer tries to be a parody of herself. Instead, she appears authentic in her awkwardness, adorable, funny sides, and Renne Zellweger does well bringing out the character’s vulnerabilities.
The songs themselves ate good but often missed the mark because of their abrupt placements in the movie. Nothing beats the ‘It’s Raining Men’ of Hugh Grant and Colin Firth fighting it out on the streets of London in the first movie. Overall the music is catchy.
The movies have their lows and highs, but all in all, they are a very endearing watch and better than most rom-com movies. In our opinion, STREAM IT! Bridget and her blue soup deserve all-out love.
Where Can You Watch It?
Bridget Jones Diary and Bridget Jones Baby are available on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Bridget Jones: Edge over Reason is available on HBO Max. It is available on rent and purchase on iTunes, VUDU and Google Movies.
Cast
The cast of Bridget Jones stars Renne Zellweger as Bridget, Colin Firth as Mark Darcy, Patrick Dempsey as Jack Qwaint and Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver. Other cast members include Jim Broadbent, Germany Jones, Sally Philips, Emma Thompson and many more.
