Bridget Jones’s Baby

Directed by Sharon Maguire, Bridget Jones’s Baby follows Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) as she once again finds herself forced to choose between two men: longtime love Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and hotshot billionaire Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey). It’s familiar territory for a series that remains doggedly opposed to disturbing the status quo established by the lackluster first film, as Bridget Jones’s Baby devotes the lion’s share of its absurd 123 minute running time to the protagonist’s ongoing efforts at deciding between Firth and Dempsey’s respective characters – which, in turn, paves the way for a midsection that contains exceedingly little in the way of forward momentum. It’s clear, then, that the picture’s relatively tolerable vibe is due almost entirely to the wildly charismatic work of its various performers, as Zellweger’s predictably winning turn as the affable protagonist is matched, and then some, by her exceedingly talented costars and a roster of appealing periphery players (including Jim Broadbent and Emma Thompson). And although the feel-good final stretch ensures the whole thing ends on a positive note, Bridget Jones’s Baby has long-since cemented its place as a fairly needless sequel that does, for the most part, feel like a shameless carbon-copy of both Bridget Jones’s Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

** out of ****