For all its reputation, Bridget Jones’s Diary isn’t half as dated as you might think
“There are elements of the ridiculous about you”
I don’t think I have ever actually seen Bridget Jones’s Diary before. Certain scenes were familiar but I think that’s from clips rather than having sat down at the cinema – maybe it just didn’t appeal to me in my early 20s, who knows. But with the latest instalment in the film series about to hit cinemas, I thought why not give ’em a go and see how they stack up more than 20 years down the line.
Based on Helen Fielding’s novel with a screenplay by Fielding, Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis, it has the feel of an archetypal rom-com, with a distinctly British tinge to it. Bridget is in her early 30s, obsessed with her weight and forever making rash decisions. Her mum wants her to date old family friend Mark Darcy but her attention is drawn to her rakish publishing house boss Daniel Cleaver – you know how it goes.
Certain aspects distinctively date the film – the sheer amount of smoking indoors and the early noughties pop-heavy score. Other touchpoints point to totemic shifts in the cultural landscape – the weight of it all is astonishing, especially the cruel line about “I thought you said she was thin”, and the sexual harassment played for laughs is equally jaw-dropping, hopefully a testament to the progress that has been made even if more is needed.
For all that though, there’s something cheering about the blitheness with which Renée Zellweger’s Bridget attacks the world, a determination to put one foot forward no matter how much of a fool others may think she’s made of herself. Hugh Grant brings charm along with the caddishness for Daniel and Colin Firth mines dependable decency as Mark, their fight scene an absolute masterclass in slapstick nonsense. Altogether much more enjoyable than I was anticipating.
