It’s been 15 years since Bridget Jones Diary came out, and 12 years since Bridget Jones: Edge Of Reason. For me, Bridget Jones’s Baby had the same delightful feel as the first movie, and there’s a reason — Sharon Maguire, who directed the first film is back for the third. The second film wasn’t awful, it just had the curse of following such a beloved first film. The only thing I really remember about it was that slap fight in the fountain between Hugh Grant and Colin Firth (those two commit, 120% in their slap fights!)
Bridget Jones’s Baby starts back in that old apartment, hitting the same beats as the first film, but then Bridget changes the music and dances around her apartment, happy in her singledom.
Pretty much everyone from the original film is back in little cameos, but I loved the new additions, like Bridget’s co-worker and best pal Miranda, played by Sarah Solemani. Bridget is still a bit clumsy, but she’s now a successful TV news show producer, and Miranda is the host. I liked that Btidget is now a grown up and competent, even if she’s puzzled by the Millennials at work.
The only one not back is Hugh Grant. His plane has gone down “in the bush”, and there’s a hilarious funeral scene with pews full of models and old girlfriends.
When Bridget’s old pals bail on her birthday celebration, Miranda surprises her with a girls’ weekend at a music festival. She falls in the mud in front of Patrick Dempsey (Jack) and they end up hooking up later that night.
The next weekend, she and Colin Firth are godparents at a friend’s baby’s christening, and sparks fly with them again after Darcy admits he and his wife are separated.
Bridget is happy to go back to her single life, and thinks that she and Darcy will never work. They tried, but he is too wedded to his work.
Well we know what happens next from the title! She gets pregnant and has no clue which man is the father. She tells both separately, and after being stunned, billionaire Jack (Dempsey) warms to the idea and actively woos her.
Darcy is thrilled that she’s pregnant, but decidedly NOT thrilled when he learns he has a rival. He’s so Darcy buttoned up and reserved, with his seething feelings under the surface waiting to burst out. Sigh.
Emma Thompson is hilarious as Bridget’s doctor, with her witty wry humor (she even co-wrote the screenplay, and boy does it show.) I loved that the doctor tells her she doesn’t need either man, and would be just fine with the baby herself. “I did it!”
When Bridget goes into labor, I was practically rolling on the floor with laughter as the two men try to carry her to the hospital, and make it through a revolving door.
You’ll enjoy the film more if you’ve seen at least the first movie, but one of the friends who saw it with me had no clue this was the third movie in a series. She laughed just as hard as me (okay, maybe I really laughed loudly), so it’s very enjoyable to people new to all things Bridget Jones.
Very funny movie, and especially fun to see with gal pals.
Pardesi Reviews 