Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Directed by Beeban Kidron, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason follows Renée Zellweger’s title character as she once again finds herself embroiled in a love triangle between Colin Firth’s Mark and Hugh Grant’s Daniel. Filmmaker Kidron, working from Adam Brooks, Richard Curtis, Andrew Davies, and Helen Fielding, delivers an almost passable romantic comedy that ultimately falls right in line with its hit-and-miss predecessor, as Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason is generally content to replicate many of the first picture’s various plot developments and character arcs – with Bridget and Mark’s on-again-off-again relationship certainly ranking high on the movie’s list of less-than-captivating (and egregiously familiar) elements. It’s clear, then, that the film’s relatively tolerable atmosphere is due almost entirely to the stellar efforts of its talented cast, with Zellweger’s winning work elevating the proceedings on an all-too-regular basis and ensuring that certain stretches, including one that sees Bridget imprisoned in a Thai jail (!), fare better than one might’ve anticipated. The end result is a relentlessly forgettable sequel that rarely, if ever, manages to justify its very existence, which is a shame, undoubtedly, given that Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason does boast its fair share of agreeable attributes. (Grant, for example, is as charming and compelling as ever here.)

** out of ****