Plot
Based on Helen Fielding's hugely popular novel, this romantic comedy follows Bridget (Renee Zellweger), a post-feminist, thirty-something British woman who has a penchant for alcoholic binges, smoking, and an inability to control her weight. While trying to keep these things in check and also deal with her job in publishing, she visits her parents for a Christmas party. They try to set her up with Mark (Colin Firth), the visiting son of one of their neighbors. Snubbed by Mark, she instead falls for her boss Daniel (Hugh Grant), a dashing lothario who begins to send her suggestive e-mails that soon lead to a dinner date proposition. Daniel reveals that he and Mark attended college together, during which time Mark had an affair with his fiancée. When Bridget finds Daniel cavorting with an American colleague, she decides to change her life with a new job as a TV presenter. At a dinner party, she bumps into Mark again, who expresses his affection for her; when Daniel claims he wants Bridget back, the two fight over who deserves her affections the most. Popular British performers Gemma Jones, Jim Broadbent, and Shirley Henderson appear in the supporting cast. ~ Jason Clark, RoviReview
Many objected to Texan Renée Zellweger's casting, but she more than does justice to the title British singleton in the film adaptation of Helen Fielding's cheeky Pride and Prejudice update Bridget Jones's Diary. Though co-scripters Fielding, Richard Curtis, and Andrew Davies do away with most of the novel's accounting of Bridget's calories, cigarettes, and alcohol, and sadly limit her friends' presence, they retain some of the book's wittiest Bridget-isms through voice-overs as well as dialogue. Director Sharon Maguire (Fielding's inspiration for "Shazzer") occasionally dwells too much on Bridget's humiliations on her way to romance, but Zellweger's performance overcomes the flaws. Famously sporting 20 extra pounds and a pitch-perfect suburban-London accent, Zellweger charmingly nails Bridget's comic self-loathing and sneakily confident sass, underlining why hunky Colin Firth and sexy Hugh Grant convincingly come to hilariously foppish blows over her. Having a humorous go at their own images, Firth's upstanding Mark Darcy resurrects his Pride and Prejudice (1995) Mr. Darcy smolder, while Grant's Daniel Cleaver is precisely not his usual stammering nice guy. Bridget may not be a feminist heroine for the 21st century, but Bridget Jones's Diary at least manages to be an increasingly rare bird: a clever romantic comedy. ~ Lucia Bozzola, RoviCast
- Renée Zellweger - Bridget Jones
- Colin Firth - Mark Darcy
- Hugh Grant - Daniel Cleaver
- Gemma Jones - Bridget's Mum
- Jim Broadbent - Bridget's Dad
Credit
Paul Cross - Art Director, David Warren - Supervising Art Director, John Casali - Boom Operator, Michelle Guish - Casting, Liza Chasin - Co-producer, Debra Hayward - Co-producer, Rachael Fleming - Costume Designer, Mary Soan - First Assistant Director, Stuart Renfrew - First Assistant Director, Sharon Maguire - Director, Cilla Ware - Second Unit Director, Martin Walsh - Editor, Helen Fielding - Executive Producer, Graham Johnston - Hair Styles, Adam Richards - Location Manager, Peter Mcaleese - Line Producer, Patrick Doyle - Composer (Music Score), Nick Angel - Musical Direction/Supervision, Graham Johnston - Makeup, Carmel Jackson - Makeup, Lorna McGowan - Makeup, Peter J. Robertson - Camera Operator, Nick Milner - Camera Operator, Gemma Jackson - Production Designer, Gemma Fleming - Production Designer, Stuart Dryburgh - Cinematographer, Tim Bevan - Producer, Eric Fellner - Producer, Jonathan Cavendish - Producer, David Crozier - Sound/Sound Designer, Joss Gower - Stunts, Nick Wilkinson - Stunts, Seon Rogers - Stunts, Dani Biernat - Stunts, Abbi Collins - Stunts, Dean Forster - Stunts, Peter Brayham - Stunts Coordinator, David Harris - Special Effects Supervisor, Claire Tovey - Unit Production Manager, Richard Curtis - Screenwriter, Andrew Davies - Screenwriter, Helen Fielding - Screenwriter, Richard Davies - Screenwriter, Jonathan Sykes - Additional Cinematography, Jules Baker-Smith - Production Assistant, Barney Davis - Second Unit Camera, Frazer Churchill - Visual Effects Supervisor, Mark Nelmes - Visual Effects Supervisor, Darren Quinn - Grip, Nick Ray - Key Grip, Michael Higham - Music Editor, Glen Ballard - Music Producer, Robbie Williams - Musical Performer, Jeanette Haley - Post Production Supervisor, Hermione Ninnim - Production Coordinator, Brian Donovan - Production Supervisor, Peter Hasler - Properties, Peter Hooper - Properties, Bruce Bigg - Properties Master, Pat Rambaut - Script Supervisor, Finn McGrath - Second Assistant Director, Alex Bailey - Still Photographer, Glenn Freemantle - Supervising Sound Editor, Matthew Holben - Visual Effects Producer, Alex Hope - Visual Effects Producer, Fay McConkey - Visual Effects Producer, Chloe Emmerson - Additional Casting, Gillian Dodders - ADR Editor, Peter Gleaves - ADR Mixer, Kevin Woodhouse - Art Department Assistant, Shana Nieberg-Suschitzky - Assistant Art Director, Stephen Noble - Assistant Costume Designer, Sarah Shepherd - Assistant Location Manager, Nick Oliver - Assistant Location Manager, Laura McIntosh - Assistant Makeup, Fergus Clegg - Buyer, Gaby Kester - Casting Assistant, Martin Chitty - Costumes Assistant, Kate Towns - Costumes Assistant, Natalie Ward - Costumes Supervisor, Gillian Dodders - Dialogue Editor, Chuck Douglas, Jr. - Extra Casting, Joanna Bates - First Assistant Accountant, Fry Martin - First Assistant Accountant, Alastair Grimshaw - First Assistant Editor, Paul Knight - First Assistant Editor, Wendy Ellerker - Production Accountant, Howard Weaver - Scenic Artist, Anya Gripari - Second Unit Assistant Director, Fi Gosden - Second Unit Assistant Director, Guy Heeley - Second Unit Assistant Director, Jon Howe - Second Unit Assistant Director, Davina Johnson - Second Unit Assistant Director, David Mack - Second Unit Assistant Director, Chris Myers - Second Unit Assistant Director, Shirley Lixenberg - Set Decorator, Helen Fielding - Book Author, Louis Elman - ADR Voice Casting, Keith McNamara - Focus Puller, Rawdon Hayne - Focus Puller, Phil Mullally - Focus Puller, Chyna Thomson - Focus Puller, Nina Ross - Runner, Darren Harrison - Runner, George Mizen - Runner, Karen Fayerty - Set Medic/First Aid, Graham Hills - Special Effects Technician, Spencer Dodd - Third Assistant Director, Eddie Raymond - Third Assistant Director, Carol Kupisz - Graphic Design, Michael B. Ellis - Title Design| Bridges and Tunnels (2003 Film), Bridges Burned (1917 Film) | |
| Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004 Film), Bridget Riley (Film) |
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