It’s been over 10 years since we’ve had a run in with Bridget Jones. Renee Zellweger played the title role in two films from the early 2000’s. The first film Bridget Jones’ Diary was a massive hit, and the sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason... wasn’t a total failure. While it’s been a long time since we’ve seen Bridget Jones, we can guess what she’s been up to from the title of the new film Bridget Jones’ Baby. Check it out.
If you were a fan of the first two films, there’s quite a bit to enjoy here in the trailer, courtesy of Ellen. There was a charm to the previous films, the first one especially, that was undeniable and at least some of that is on display here. Is Renee Zellweger’s English accent ridiculous? Of course it is, but it’s a special sort of ridiculous that you only find in the Bridget Jones movies. It’s very much its own sort of charming. Colin Firth is back as Bridget's on-again / off-again love interest, who appears to be both off again and on again in this film as well. As you can guess from the title, Bridget Jones becomes pregnant, but the question of the day is, "Who’s the father?" It’s not the most original of script ideas, but if you go to romantic comedies expecting original ideas you’ll be disappointed every time. This one is about spending time with fun characters.
If there’s anything that feels amiss in Bridget Jones’ Baby it’s the character who’s missing. Hugh Grant will not be returning to his role as Daniel Cleaver. One of the things that actually was unique about the Bridget Jones films in the annals of romantic comedy history was the way they cast Hugh Grant completely against type. Normally, Grant is the bumbling guy who eventually gets the girl. Here, he was the asshole that you hope the girl doesn’t end up with. Although, it was Hugh Grant, so he was still fairly endearing. Grant decided not to do the film, mostly because the plot diverges fairly significantly from the novel.
But this is also a return for the lead character as well. We haven’t actually seen Renee Zellweger in a movie since 2010 so I think we can officially dub this a "comeback." As a comeback, it’s fitting that Zellweger uses her most popular, and successful, character in order to do so. The only question will be, are audiences interested in welcoming her back?
Bridget Jones’ Baby is set for a September 16 release. Are you looking forward to this sequel, or is this a series you had actually forgotten existed?
