Movie Review: Bridge Jones: The Edge of Reason

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

The first Bridget Jones movie was fun and funny, sweet and irreverent, and entertaining throughout. Along with the fact that the ending, of course, was a beginning of sorts, and you had to know there'd be a sequel. Well, this movie is that sequel, and true to frequent fate of sequels, it doesn't even come close to measuring up to its predecessor.

At the end of the first movie, longtime "singlet" and compulsive diarist Bridget Jones (Reneé Zellweger) finally ends up with her handsome lawyer boyfriend, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). The Edge of Reason begins about six weeks later with an ecstatic Bridget still unable to believe her good fortune in the boyfriend department. But being Bridget, there are misunderstandings galore, and she and Mark have their share of miscommunications and problems to work out between them, not the least of which is Bridget's jealousy of Mark's beautiful secretary, Rebecca (Jacinda Barrett) and Mark's worries about Bridget's former boss—and flame—Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant).

Meanwhile, Bridget's career as a TV journalist continues to move from disaster after disaster each of which somehow enhances her cachet with the audience rather than hurting her popularity. Eventually, Bridget is chosen to join Daniel (who she's not yet forgiven for his betrayals in the first movie) in a travel feature that sees the pair end up in Thailand for filming just as her relationship with Mark is falling apart. Although Bridget has brought along her friend, Shazzer (Sally Phillips) for moral support on the trip, Shazzer is busy with Jed (Paul Nichols), a man she meets on the plane. Between Shazzer's occupation elsewhere and Daniel's unrelenting charm, Bridget finds herself falling for the inveterate cad once again.

Despite making more mistakes and being the victim of still more miscommunication, Bridget is almost herself again when disaster strikes. Will she survive? Will Daniel rescue her? Does Mark still care? Bridget is convinced he doesn't—and she may as well know now that the rest of us don't really care, either.

Although Zellweger has once again gained the weight to play the dumpy Jones, and has returned with her flawless British accent and considerable acting chops, there's little she or anyone else can do to rescue a storyline that's utterly predictable and a script that's not even remotely amusing. As if not being funny wasn't enough, the spoken lines are mostly ridiculous, and the plot movement entirely contrived at best. Hugh Grant is still charming onscreen, but as likable as the man is even when he portrays a cad like Daniel Cleaver, he doesn't fare well in The Edge of Reason, either. Perhaps that's because all of the actors have evidently joined the sequel less as characters than as caricatures. It's sad to see terrific actors like Zellweger, Jim Broadbent (who plays Bridget's father), and Colin Firth performing in a film that's this bad. I hope they did it for the money; there's certainly little else there for them. And there is, frankly, even less for those of us who didn't get paid in connection with Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

POLITICAL NOTES: There's a golden opportunity here to make some political commentary about crime and justice in Thailand. Unfortunately, like the various comedic opportunities for Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, those, too, were skipped in entirety.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason is rated R for "language and some sexual content." I personally see no real reason the movie isn't rated PG-13, although the fact the rating will keep some people away is probably a good thing. If I were to give it a truly helpful rating, I'd give it a B for "bad" so as to keep the rest of the audience away, too. It would save them the price of a ticket not to mention give them two hours with which to do something more productive, like taking a nap.