Legacy sequels were all the rage 5 or 6 years ago. Easily sellable IP with a highly calorific dollop of nostalgia that often doesn’t satisfyingly hit the spot when it comes to echoing the original property. However, Bridget Jones may be the exception to the rule, now with her fourth film, 24 years after the first and eight years after the third film Bridget Jones’s Baby, the struggling, second-guessing singleton is back on the big screen (at least in the UK).
With Bridget Jones, there is a sense of the familiar, that this character is someone we know, a figure of Britain and represents many of the values when it comes to what being British means. In her 25 years, there is a sense we the audience have got to watch her life play out. From the first film where Bridget is in her early 30s and pressured into finding someone to start a family with, to this film, where she has aged, struggling to live as a single mum of two children.
Unlike the rest of the films, Mad About the Boy feels fresh, with a clear idea of what the narrative wants to approach. The film opens with Bridget (Renée Zellweger) struggling with the grief of losing her husband Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), who died in a humanitarian issue in Sudan four years ago. Whilst her three besties are in the pub talking about their latest gains in podcast followers, Bridget’s life is stale in grief, asexual, wallowing in self-pity. Whereas her three previous outings were will they won’t they rom-coms, this aspect second fiddle to the theme of grief as Bridget enters a new stage of her life in Mad About the Boy.
That being said, it still has all the fun thrills you expect from a classic British rom-com. Whether that be Bridget and her two kids jumping up and down on the bed to the sound of David Bowie’s ‘Modern Love’, announcing to an audience that she had marvellous sex the previous evening, or accidentally hugging a tree that attracts the film’s two love interests: A litter-loving toyboy, Roxster (Leo Woodall), and her kids’ science teacher Mr Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who Bridget Jones describes as an instant hero when they first met for shutting up the school’s biggest helicopter pilot parent.
The film is a little baggy in places, with a bloated middle that could shave a good 20 minutes off, however, it is outweighed by the great fun you have throughout the experience. It is full of fun, laughs, silliness and relatable exchanges, with an array of brilliantly understated performances from an experienced cast. However, it is this new layer of melancholy that makes it such a success. It is about coming to terms with death, especially in terms of a child’s grief. Yet, this is not a downbeat bummer but a joyful charmer with this undercurrent of sadness that adds meaning to life.
Mad About the Boy is a celebration of life and living it to the fullest. It has all the layers of the best of Bridget Jones. The laughs, the romance, the self-pity and endless doubt – the cinematic equivalent to a large glass of fruity rose. But it feels as if the film is doing something a little more than that. Whilst it probably is a bit too long, it is definitely the best of the series bar the original. A euphoric return of the classic British rom-com.
Comments