Twenty-four years after being introduced to audiences, Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is back — middle-aged, a mother of two children and struggling to find joy in her life again after the passing of her husband Mark (Colin Firth). As a result, this latest installment has a healthy dose of heartache and grief.
Bridget has matured with age and loss, but she’s still the lovable, goofy Bridget Jones at heart. Balancing grief with the typical quirky rom-com humor was going to be this film’s biggest hurdle and it manages to do this relatively seamlessly — with a few small snags here and there.
There’s a certain predictability to the plot beats of the story and the humor does lean towards cringe at times. The sweetness and charm of Zellweger’s performance is enough to buoy the film, as she finds herself stuck between two new men.
Handsome and charming, Roxster (Leo Wooddall) has nothing to offer, which makes it difficult to root for him to end up with Bridget. That is what the film wants, but it still feels like cheating to set up one love interest so obviously for failure. But her son’s science teacher Mr. Walliker’s (Chiwetel Ejiofor) gruff charm is enough to make up for this, as he demonstrates intelligence and sensitivity, making him a swoon-worthy love interest.
Another bright spot of the film is the return of Hugh Grant’s lovably witty playboy, Daniel. With all his shared history with Bridget, the two have settled into an easy camaraderie built on a years-long friendship that’s genuinely a joy to watch. Grant’s screen time is limited, but he makes a meal out of it, balancing joking vigor and sobering reflections on human mortality.
The same cannot be said for the rest of the supporting cast, which are many in number but aren’t fully fleshed out within the narrative of the film. This makes the film feel too bloated for its own boots, as the film runs in at exactly two hours. That is long for a rom-com, a genre that is typically at its best when films are kept short and lightweight. But these minor flaws do not weigh the film down. At the end of the day Bridget is back — older, more sensitive with loss but still not having lost her quintessential “Bridget Jones-ness.”
Verdict: A worthy installment that shows the series is capable of taking Bridget Jones in new directions while still keeping the character’s quirks and foibles endearing.
