Bridget Jones’s Diary

Directed by Sharon Maguire, Bridget Jones’s Diary details the romantic exploits of Renée Zellweger’s title character and follows her as she eventually attempts to choose between two men (Hugh Grant’s Daniel and Colin Firth’s Mark). Filmmaker Maguire, working from Richard Curtis, Andrew Davies, and Helen Fielding’s screenplay, delivers a hit-and-miss romantic comedy that ultimately fares best in its briskly-paced and entertaining first half, as the movie benefits substantially from Zellweger’s affable turn as the compelling central character and her genuine chemistry with costars Grant and Firth – with the agreeable atmosphere heightened by a continued emphasis on genuinely funny episodes and encounters (eg Bridget hilariously attempts to introduce her boss without resorting to a less-than-flattering nickname). It’s fairly disappointing to note, then, that Bridget Jones’s Diary begins to demonstrably fizzle out once it passes the one-hour mark, as the narrative adopts a progressively conventional bent that’s compounded by Maguire’s less-than-fresh approach and ongoing reliance on some of the genre’s hoariest conventions (and this is to say nothing of the eye-rollingly on-the-nose song choices). By the time the third-act’s fairly endless fake break-up stretch rolls around, Bridget Jones’s Diary has cemented its place as an almost passable romcom that’s rarely as compelling as its three superb lead performances.

** out of ****

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