BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON
Directed by Beeban Kidrion
In theatres
(*)
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Written By: John H. Foote
         
I like Renee Zellweger. 
  
  I think she is among the most talented actresses in film today, having broken through with a scene and heart stealing performance opposite Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire (1996). In the years since she has been simply miraculous in several films, beginning with the under appreciated black comedy Nurse Betty (2000) for which she won the Golden Globe but was somehow denied an Oscar nomination. She would nail her first nomination one year later for Bridget Jones Diary (2001); followed by another Oscar nominated performance inChicago(2002) which also won her the Screen Actors Guild Award for best actress, and another Golden Globe. Last year she won the Academy Award for best supporting actress for her riveting performance in Cold Mountain (2003), stealing the film away from Nicole Kidman and Jude Law with her earthy performance as Ruby. What I admire about Zellweger is that she dares to risk; she puts herself out there on a limb and rarely makes a mistake in her work. She effortlessly slips under the skin of the character she is portraying and quietly becomes her, performing miracles on the screen to the delight of the audience. 
 
   British fans of the novel Bridget Jones Diary were up in arms when she was cast as the young English lass searching for love in all the wrong places, believing she was totally wrong for the part. Zellweger’s performance silence them, proving to everyone who doubted that she was simply born for the role. The film was a huge success when released; Zellweger earned rave reviews, so I suppose a sequel was a no-brainer. 
    
Sadly they should have left well enough alone. 
   
While Zellweger is again fine in the role, the film gives her so little to do that is logical, one begins to wonder why she agreed to tackle the role again, which comes with a substantial weight gain on the part of the actress. The second part to this is that her character is a tad annoying this time out doing the sort of stupid things that leave audiences rolling their eyes and feeling the beginnings of dislike for her. There is nothing cute or endearing about being a fool, though the filmmakers seem to think that we will forgive her behavior because she is after, Bridget Jones. 
    
Bad move. 
  
  A virtual rehash of the first film, we again encounter Bridget several months after the end of the first film, where she is still with Marc Darcy (Colin Firth), but is beginning to have doubts. Life with the ever proper Marc has done nothing to tone down Bridget’s penchant for speaking out of turn or saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, though there is little doubt they belong together. She begins to doubt his love for her, and when her old flame portrayed by Hugh Grant at his caddish best comes calling, she begins to think everything she has with Marc is a mistake. 
   
The film offers Zellweger the chance to flex her muscles as a physical comedian, and believe me, she has proven in previous films that she is more than up to the task. But there is never a moment when I though the story was moving forward in a logical manner, as the first certainly did. Everything seems to be happening to move a movie, and the movie seems to be happening to sell ticket, not tell a story. 
   
This is a sequel made for all the wrong reasons. Obviously the studio saw the potential in making money because sequels usually do, and there are those rare occasions when a sequel actually surpasses the first film, The Godfather Part II (1974) and Spider Man 2 (2004) being prime examples. However the reason those films were stronger was because the artists involved believed they needed to deepen and strengthen the characters and storyline, and that is exactly what they did. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, does nothing of the sort. We are permitted to visit to with old friends, familiar faces, but there is nothing new to discover about them. One wants to run screaming from the theatre when Grant calls her because in the real world one hopes she would slam the phone down and remember the lies he told her and the manner in which he betrayed his one time friend. 
   
That said, Zellweger, despite being given little to do, is still sometimes enchanting and very warm to watch. She is portraying the type of girl guys want to take care of, though in reality she does not need taking care of. Now the tough part; I have to admit I did grow tired of her insecurities, of her jealously and of her imagination getting the better of her. There are times when I wanted to scream at her “just accept what you have and be happy!!!” Though I love watching Zellweger, her character got on my nerves. 
   
Colin Firth and Hugh Grant are also given very little to do in the way of character development, however they possess an interesting chemistry together. Firth is so fine as the befuddled good man, a genuinely good person, and Grant is just perfection as the lying bastard Daniel, that they each give the film a jolt of much needed energy. 
  
  As directed by Beeban Kidrion, the film plays out like a typicalHollywoodromantic comedy, the formula being, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. Not being a Woody Allen film, it does not take a genius to recognize that there is a happy ending here. 
  
  The happy ending is that the film eventually does indeed end. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
      
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