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 "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" Chris' Review: Just for you, our faithful following, Jim and I got together on Monday night at watched the first Bridget Jones movie so that we could give you an accurate review of The Edge of Reason in contrast with the first. (Actually, I bought the DVD on Sunday, watched it then, watched it again with Jim, then watched the second installment on Tuesday... I'm Bridget Jones'd out.) Both of the movies were very well done. Renée Zellweger (Bridget) could carry the movie by herself, she's that strong in the role, but she has ample help from Colin Firth (Mark Darcy) and the wonderfully sleazy/smooth Hugh Grant (Daniel Cleaver). I really can't say anything horrible about anyone in the movie when it comes to the acting. Everyone just came off as very believable, true and very consistent in their roles, and again, Zellweger shines brightly in both films. The direction and production values were all also top notch. There was one scene in particular that really did it for me. When Bridget is moping about eating Ben & Jerry's and they pan out the window and pull backwards across the London sky, and in window after window there were couples in loving embraces, doing things together, cuddling... it emphasizes Bridget's situation and lends a feeling of fanciful despair to the scene. It was one of the most spectacular uses of CGI I've seen in a long time. Now, although I loved this movie, and although I thought that it surpassed the previous one in hilarity... you're also talking to someone who owns the collected works of the Three Stooges on DVD. Just because I felt this way does not mean that Bridget Jones didn't lose quite a bit in the sequel. The first Bridget Jones installment gave Bridget a feeling of realism. She was just an average girl with average problems and a tendency to happen into some very unfortunate situations. You felt for her, pitied her situation, but she managed to retain her dignity. The Edge of Reason lost some of that dignity. Bridget stumbled around like one (or all three) of the Stooges and it was silly rather than just unfortunate. You found it harder to identify with her, the situations oft seemed unbelievable, and the resolutions were awful rather than just awkward. Granted, this is probably some of the reason that I enjoyed it more than the first. Forgive me if I just don't (and hopefully never will) identify with a thirty something, pudgy, female with a spinster-phobia. The other part that was a bit on the disappointing side was that The Edge of Reason was pretty much just a rehash of the original film. Girl bounces back and forth between two boys. Girl embarrasses herself at every turn. Boys get into sissy fight. Everyone is happy in the end as girl winds up with nice boy. Not much deviation and not much character development from the first. Sure, the formula works, may as well stick with it... but you're left feeling like you already saw this one.... So overall I give Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason 6 thumbs up. I really enjoyed it, I'll probably buy it to put next to the other one, and I'll enjoy it a couple more times at least before I come to my senses and realize that it's a chick flick.   Jim's Review: Any young person "of a certain age" feels the pressure sooner or later. Sometimes it comes from family, sometimes from a job. Occasionally, even from friends. "I'm 25-32, and I don't know what I'm doing with myself. I'm out of school, I'm working, and I have a good social life...But, is my job a career? What's my direction? And why do all of my friends suddenly seem to be married?" TIME magazine calls them "Twixters". The website QuarterLifeCrisis.com has loads of information and support for them. And musicians like John Mayer sing about their struggles in the murky, muddy years between college and whatever is considered full-fledged adulthood today. WHATEVER you call them...Bridget Jones, in her second film incarnation ("Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason"), seems to be their queen. In the original film adaptation of "Bridget Jones' Diary", Helen Fielding's tarty Brit heroine (as embodied by Renée Zellweger) was feeling the quarter-life-crunch. Between her Mum constantly playing matchmaker, her job sending her mixed signals, and her love life being spottier than a leopard with chicken pox, she was all but at her wit's end. Add to this the fact that her only romantic prospects were suave-but-caddish publisher Daniel (Hugh Grant), and sweet-but-stiff barrister Mark (Colin Firth), and you have all the makings of humorously post-modern tribulation. "Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason" picks up more or less where the first film left off, give or take a month or two. At the end of the first film, Bridget has decided to more or less go the safe route...Life with Daniel may be exciting, passionate, and unpredictable, but Mark offers a stability that she finds reassuring and attractive. And as the two of them grow their relationship, they discover that, while it may not be as idyllic as they'd hoped...At least it seems to be mostly working. Occupationally, Bridget has continued to confuse "serious journalism" with the fun puff pieces she's assigned by her BBC morning telly programme, but nobody really seems to care. She's still writing in her (new) diary, things with Mark are...pretty good, and she's starting to settle into an odd, alien emotion: Contentment. Obviously, it can't last. Bridget retains her gift for saying and doing the wrong thing at the wrong time, but in this film, the consequences for such a dubious talent prove more dire. At a fancy cocktail party with colleagues of Mark's, Bridget manages to embarass herself (and, by extension, Mark) more times than either of them can count. Naturally, Mark gets a bit cross with her, and the two of them have a minor row. Walking home under the picturesque London Bridge (Getting The Most Out Of Location Shoots 101), Bridget conveniently forgets that the whole thing was largely her fault to begin with, accuses Mark of not sticking up for her, and gives him the boot. Immediately regretting her decision, she waits by the phone, to no avail, for days. Naturally, given the truly convoluted nature of the unwritten "rules" of gender politics, it scarcely occurrs to Bridget that the phone operates in either direction. But, there's always work, right? Well, in a manner of speaking. it seems Bridget's old flame Daniel has been hired by the BBC to host a winky, rakish travel show. And the boss thinks the two of them would just be the perfect co-hosts! Would Bridget consider taking on the show? And no, they're not specifically asking. It just sounds like it because they're English. So, Bridget and Daniel are once again thrust together by happenstance. NOW what? I'll admit to a certain personal dichotomy when it comes to the "Bridget" films: Against all reason, I like Bridget and her foibles. And that confuses me a little. I mean, on the surface, she embodies every negative female stereotype: She's obsessed with her weight despite looking quite lovely, she's flighty, frequently petulant, and wholly over-emotional, she's attracted to self-destructive behavior and relationships (yet still possesses the unmittigated audacity to wonder why she's so often miserable), and she's perfected the art of hurting men in such a way as to force THEM to apologize. And yet she's still being literally and figuratively fought over by two men...Who, while far from perfect themselves, are charming, successful and handsome, and must certainly have options. So I, like the men in her life, find her likable despite her giving me a myriad of reasons why such a course of action is ridiculous and inadvisable. Perhaps that's the whole point. Credit must be given to Zellweger. The wags flapped over an American actress having been cast in a role that the British wanted one of their own to snag, but she siezes Bridget enthusiastically and runs with her. In her hands, Bridget is real. Flawed, irresponsible and maddening, but real. She negotiates Bridget's bizarre, illogical waters assuredly. She brings a center to the proceedings, even when said proceedings involve implausible twists, that defies reason. Bridget would be a hard person to have a relationship with, but despite some of her less-than savory character traits, she is still fun to watch. Grant and Firth are also well-met. Hugh Grant seems to have cornered the market on the nervous, stammering pansy, but he's sleazily enjoyable as cocky, über-smooth Daniel. Ironic that Grant demonstrates flexibility and maturity while portraying a character that can niether change nor grow up, but we still sympathize with him and his unique approach to things. And Colin Firth is the perfect straight man. He is as stoic and as deadpan as a judge ought to be, but still exudes a warmth and good humor that offers at least a partial glimpse into the reasoning behind Bridget's affection for him. It is because we enjoy the characters that otherwise-nagging flaws are largely overlooked. Still, review I must. To begin with, I take issue with the film's approach to the subject of weight. In this film (as in the last), Bridget ties the numbers on her scale so closely with her overall happiness that it's hard not to get annoyed with the creators' attitudes. "I'd be happy if I could just lose ten pounds" is a ludicrous, self-destructive mantra for anyone. And it's no wonder that many women have self-image issues when so much was made about Zellweger's "extraordinary" weight gain to play this "fat" character...While to my eye, she looked nothing so much as completely average. Curvy and soft, as a woman SHOULD look. She's MAYBE a size 10. When she asserts to Mark, "and yes...I will always be just a little bit fat", I can't help but wonder which little bit she's talking about. What sort of message does that send? When the film holds up a character like Mark's colleague Rebecca (a scarily twig-thin Jacinda Barrett, appearing here in a completely forgettable throwaway subplot) as the ideal; a pretty, desirable threat to Bridget, Hollywood's obsession with ever-less-healthy, vanishing actresses is more apparent than ever. Toss in Zellweger's dramatic post-Bridget weight loss back to the low-end of single-digit dress sizes by the time the red capet was rolled out for the "Bridget" premieres, and I worry just as much for her health as I do for this country's misplaced adulation of anorexia. This is neither the time nor the place for ranting on social ills, but if the film intustry was not so complicit in promoting the cause of the problem, I expect it wouldn't be as prevalent. So, pardon the digression. Also, Bridget's parents (Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent) seem a smidgen over-pushy. I understand that they've been eager for Bridget to find a gentleman that she can create proper grandchildren with, but given the stated elapsed time between the end of the last film and the beginning of this one (4-6 weeks), their asking if she and Mark have "set a date then?" seems awfully bloody overbearing. And, anyone who's seen this film will likely agree that some of the third-reel plot twists seem to change gears into an almost completely different movie...One that bears little or no resemblance to the previous 80-odd minutes. Still, Bridget's movies seem to mirror Bridget: They may be unpredictable, illogical, fickle and fidgety, but they're still appealing. Like her, we forgive these films their shortcomings, because they are as charming and perky-cute as their titular heroine. "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" may be frustrating at times, hilarous at others, and eyebrow-raisingly silly in still others, but I just can't STAY mad at it. Or at Bridget. 7 thumbs. BackHome - Info - Reviews - Map - Message Board - Photo Album |
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