Moviehole Review

by Clint Morris

For the sake of a mass of devoted female fans (and a few unadmitting male ones), author Helen Fielding put pen on paper to continue the adventures of eternally dippy, dumpy and desperate Bridget Jones – and the result is pure magic.

At the end of the side splittingly funny, strangely touching, "Bridget Jones's Diary", our lovesick reporter, Bridge (Renee Zellweger), fell into the arms of the amiable, slightly primish, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). The sequel picks up a month later, with Bridget already starting to feel unsure of yourself in her new relationship and suspecting her new beau is on the hunt for a swift replacement.

When she's convinced that she's never going to get a marriage proposal and that Darcy's only got eyes for foxy workmate Rebecca Gillies (Jacinda Barrett) anyway, Bridget throws it all in and heads for Thailand, where she's been assigned a reporting gig working alongside old flame, and self-confessed sexaholic Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant).

You can see where it's going to go from here - but that's hardly the point. It's the boppy journey that makes the Working Title efforts such a hoot. They're funny, touching, romantic, and predominantly, feature a far-from-perfect lead character that just about anyone – man or woman – can relate to. There's a little bit of the confidence-lacking, anxious, terribly average daggy reporter in all of us.

The studio distributing "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" has made it pretty clear that they don't want anyone referring to the anticipated sequel to Bridget Jones Diary's as "Bridget Jones 2". And you know what? After seeing the film, you can understand why. The bubbly, meticulously performed comedy stands on its own and then some. Adding a ‘2' to the finishing end of its title would only be an insult to Beeban Kidron's follow-up. If "Bridget Jones's Diary" was Swiss, then the "Edge of Reason" is tasty. They sit in the same compartment, but they've got two distinct after-tastes.

Zellweger is again amazing in her role as Jones, her trademark part now, chewing up the scenery in every bit of frame she appears in. She might be a tad heavier than a bag of bowling balls and observably so, but there's something still so undeniably cute about her Bridget. She's such a lovable klutz. Firth and Grant are also returning to two of their best characters, Darcy and Cleaver. They're especially good in scenes together – a skirmish near the end of the film, in a fountain, is an absolute ripper. You'll laugh till the cows come home.

"Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" is as good, if not better, than its predecessor. Well worth sneaking another peek into that journal.