While she may be heralded as an icon of the late 90s, it appears every decade has needed Bridget Jones. The success of Helen Fielding’s novels led to a big screen adaptation and sequel in the 2000s, before 2016 saw star Renee Zellweger return in Bridget Jones’ Baby. Now, nearly 25 years on from the first film, this unlikely franchise returns in an adaptation of Fielding’s third book, Mad About The Boy.
The film finds Bridget (Zellweger) in her fifties and a single mother after the death of Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). Having got back on her feet with the help of friends and old flame Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), she builds a new life that includes getting to grips with modern dating, and falling for a much younger man.
A depressing side effect of cinema’s need for just one more sequel is that few beloved characters get to walk off into the sunset. While canonically this is always where Fielding intended Bridget to be (Bridget Jones’ Baby was a threequel made solely for the screen), it would have been more emotionally satisfying to leave her and Mark in the wedded bliss that ended the previous instalment.
Still, life goes on, and so does Bridget with the kind of optimism that made her an icon for a generation of women. Indeed, the character seems more than suited to take on the new challenges of middle age, where women can often feel invisible, in the same way that she navigated the pressures of her twenties. Changes at work, the playground, and in her social life all reflect the passage of time, while also tackling age-gap romance in a less salacious way than the recently released Babygirl or last year’s The Idea Of You.
Surprisingly, grief is not simply a set up for a new romantic interest. The impact of Mark’s death is present throughout the movie, both in the way our heroine feels lost without him, and the grief of her children – particularly her son, Billy (Caper Knopf), who fears forgetting him. It’s an unexpected dose of emotional grounding that makes the movie feel like more than a rehash of previous escapades. It makes for occasionally awkward bedfellows with the romantic plot, but it gives this sequel a reason for being.
By this point Zellweger knows how to play the role and slides back into the part effortlessly. It seems ridiculous to think that back in 2001 the American actress was considered a poor choice for the character, with many thinking the future two-time Oscar winner wouldn’t have the ability to capture the nuance of the British favourite. She proves those doubts wrong once again, and while there isn’t anything that’s quite as memorable as earlier instalments, retains the charm that made her a crowd favourite.
Her love interests have a tough time living up to the duo of Firth and Grant, mainly working because of their varying personalities. Chiwetel Ejiofor is a Mark Darcy equivalent as Bridget’s children’s rather serious schoolteacher, while Leo Woodall is filled with youthful swagger as his love rival, the ridiculously named Roxter. Both suffer by comparison to their predecessors, particularly given Grant’s presence as Bridget’s confidant. Still, many favourite supporting characters pop up to give fans a sense of nostalgia.
A curious final chapter (potentially), Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy will best please those who have followed her journey for a quarter of a century rather than newbies looking for a Valentine’s Day romance.