The first film, Bridget Jones’s Diary, was a cute romantic comedy that had, of course, a happy ending. While it really didn’t need a sequel at all, this is Hollywood – and if it works, well, do another one! So we now get Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. When we last saw her, Bridget (Renée Zellweger) was finally with the man of her dreams, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). Unfortunately, as we very quickly discover, Bridget is paranoid and insecure about her relationship. After a series of blunders, Bridget not only breaks up with Darcy, but re-encounters her old flame, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant). Through another series of unfortunate misadventures, Bridget ends up in a Thai women’s prison for drug smuggling. Darcy comes to the rescue, and in the end, they realize they love each other and all is well. Or something like that.
In truth, while the movie was amusing at times, there was nothing at all to indicate why Darcy and Jones were together at all. If anything, their relationship seemed like it had more problems than good times, and it felt like Darcy liked her because of her flaws, rather than in spite of them. The worst part was, in the end, the moral of the story is: No matter how bad your relationship is, you don’t have it as bad as an abused drug addicted whore from Thailand.
I’m not kidding.
This movie is fluff. Nothing gained, nothing lost. (Except your time, I suppose.) While it’s entertaining to see Renée go through the role again, it’s not that big a deal in the end. The music, by Harry Gregson-Williams, provides necessary emotion where the film is lacking, and he did a very pleasant job. The songs work well, of course, and this is definitely a “fun soundtrack”. Too bad the film just left me feeling hollow.