Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

johnnyboyz They say that if a man is not a socialist by the time he is twenty, then he has no heart, and that if he is not a conservative by the time he is forty, then he has no brain. So far as I can tell, "Bridget Jones' Diary" depicts not a man but a woman who falls somewhere in-between both these two particular ages and, as a bonus, these two somewhat rudimentary world outlooks. While not a particularly political film, it is interesting to note how it seems to push the message that men and women are better together, and that individualism and empowerment is all well and good, but will ultimately lead to loneliness.Texas-born actress Renée Zellweger plays the eponymous Bridget Jones, a desk-jockey in a plush London office belonging to a publishing firm. She is single; 32 years of age and desperate for a man in her life as yet another New Year's ticks by- bellowing out the lyrics to "All by Myself" after a day's slog, complete with all the drum and cymbal actions right on cue, to emphasise the point. Despite this, Jones is not lonely in the technical sense - she has a large group of contacts and acquaintances: her friends are an assortment of homosexuals and liberal metropolitans; her parents, played by Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones, eventually become separate shoulders to cry on, while at the office, there is her boss Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), to whom she takes a fancy.The film makes some effort to point out as to how Jones has been living life fairly liberally: she smokes; falls drunk out of taxi cabs after nights out; has neglected her diet over the years and has placed a lot of effort and energy into her career in order to be where she is - there are not many people in jobs, after all, who might be able to rub shoulders with both Salman Rushdie AND Jeffery Archer at a function. Much later on in the film, there is a scene involving Jones having to do some actual cooking from original ingredients - the likes of which comes as totally alien to her, inferring a complete lack of skill in this department. This is something which would not have been the case for her previous generation, the likes of whom kept the homestead.The film depicts Jones seemingly want to break from most of this, and has her set about tidying up her life through a manner of ways which predominantly revolve around shedding her liberal skin - depicting the events amusingly in the titular diary, with her optimum goal being the obtaining of a man. Working with books for all her life, she is therefore afforded a degree of comedic prose with which to construct her entries. There are two men in her life who have the greatest potential of filling her life's largest chasm: one of them, and despite having already identified him as being somebody who embodies all that's wrong with men, is Cleaver. The other is a barrister and an old family friend played by Colin Firth called Mark Darcy, whose good looks the film feels need confirming to us early on by two women during a private conversation and whose paddling pool Jones happened to play around naked in when they were eight. Playfully, the film affords Cleaver and Darcy an antagonistic history in that one once slept with the other's fiancé. I was struck by just how passionate the film feels about its central message, that of how men and women are happier together and that love, it would seem, conquers all. At the time of the film being made, female employment actually outnumbered male employment in the United Kingdom for the first time in history. Feminism had found a happy place in society, allowing women to possess their own freedoms and careers - free from feeling ashamed about their bodies and allowing them to have relationships with co-workers on top of whatever else. I'm not sure the film is necessarily taking a stand against much of this, and in its heroine, it has somebody who embodies these philosophies better than most, but it treads dangerously close to a line the other side of which commends monogamy; married life and things like pride in appearance: items which you might say are/were anathema to many of those who helped Labour to their landslide win at around the exact same time the source material for this film was conceived.Certainly, by the end, the film has depicted more than just Bridget Jones turning her life around: Jones' mother, in actual fact, goes in the opposite direction - describing herself as living in the "winter" of her life and admitting that, if she'd had a second chance, would not have even bothered with having children. Being more liberal in old age, she leaves her husband for another man. There is even room for an otherwise irrelevant narrative about a Kurdish man who escapes illegal deportation and thanks the heavens he has had a wife by his side all this time. The manner about which these supporting strands eventually unfold only seem to serve to reinforce my belief that the film is about how human beings do better as twosomes. Aside all things, the film is often just terrifically funny: moments such as the montage of job interviews Jones undergoes cannot help but make you laugh, whereas her desperate attempt to provide a speech at a book launch with the equipment not fully functional works on more than just the singular level. From the point of view of straight up genre film-making, the film ticks enough boxes. "Bridget Jones' Diary" has spawned two sequels, neither of which I have seen, but will certainly hunt down - I would recommend this particular entry besides.

TheLittleSongbird It was the cast that drew me into seeing 'Bridget Jones's Diary', although there were doubts as to whether Renee Zellwegger would work, as well as being familiar with the books, finding them entertaining enough reads if not among the best personally read, and that Richard Curtis has done some other great work.'Bridget Jones's Diary' is a pretty darn good adaptation of the book, it doesn't have everything included (that would have been a tall order) but the essence and what made the book work are captured incredibly well. This said, it is a very good film on its own terms, it can be dismissed (and has done) as a chick flick and a film just for women. It is much more than both those things, being a film that tries to appeal to both sexes and having more depth than your average romantic comedy/chick flick.Maybe 'Bridget Jones's Diary' doesn't cover any new ground. Maybe it doesn't break any conventions. That didn't matter to me, because whether it does matter with any film, TV series, episode etc. is wholly dependent on how well it executes everything else, everything else is executed with very little to complain about.Some parts were a little contrived and there is a slightly draggy section around half-way, but these were minor issues really.'Bridget Jones's Diary' is attractive visually in a film that doesn't require epic sweeping cinematography or opulence, but still manages to be beautifully shot, cohesively edited and have striking locations. Personally really liked the music, with a mix of the old greats and more contemporary performers, and it fits well.A good script always helps, and it's the script that's one of the main good things here. The humour can be daft but is often hilarious and full of wit, while the romantic parts are sentimental but never mawkish or overdone and the more drama-oriented moments have an air of poignancy. Much of the film is also deliciously charming and to me relatable. Bridget manages to be more endearing here than she is in the book, to me she was easy to sympathise with and feel pity for regardless of her faults and the numerous things she does wrong, and quite a lot of us will find a lot of ourselves in her character.Even if new ground is not covered, bright and breezy pacing and remarkably deft directing from Sharon Maguire in her directing debut help make that not count against the film.Renee Zellwegger is fantastic in the title role, any initial doubts were completely subsided after seeing a performance of immense charm and that was both funny, awkward in the adorable sense and sympathetic. She does a good job with the accent too.Cast against type, Hugh Grant still brings a smarmy charm so despite being a cad (which he brings out without seeming ill at ease at all) you do see what Bridget sees in him. Colin Firth is reserved and understated but injects the right amount of dignity, charisma and charm to not make the character dull in a role that seemed like it was written with him in mind (that his character's name is a play on from his most famous role, Mr Darcy in the wonderful 1995 'Pride and Prejudice', further gives that impression).The rest of the cast are a whos who of veteran British talent, all doing reliably solid jobs, with the always good Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent coming off best.Overall, a delight and much more than a chick flick with something for everyone regardless of gender or age if given a chance. 8/10 Bethany Cox

bitte_k_i This is Romantic comedy and based on the novel written by Helen Fielding. This story is about a single woman who is struggling to get a boyfriend.Bridget goes to her parent's house on Christmas day. Every year, Bridget's mother introduces her a single boring man. This year she meets a tall man wearing frumpy sweater with a reindeer illustration. She talks with him, Mark. After that, she hears he say criticize about Bridget to his mother. Bridget is indignant at him and starts to write a diary to reconsider about own character. She likes Daniel who is her boss and handsome guy. They get close and date many times, but Daniel is a playboy and he engages to the other American woman. So Bridget quits job and becomes a TV reporter. One day she is invited to her friend's dinner party and encounters Mark there. He ways he likes her. And then, on Bridget's birthday, Mark visit to her. Bridget, Mark and her friends are having party. Then, Daniel comes to the house and says he loves her. Mark gets angry and they fight. On Christmas, listening to Pamela's story, Bridget realizes that Daniel is a liar and Mark is sincere. This story has a lot of funny scenes. My favorite is Daniel looks at Bridget's big underpants. But not just funny scene, it has romantic and sad scenes. You must enjoy this film. This is heart warming amusing story.

Matthew Luke Brady Bridget Jones: "Now, I'll go home and... DE-bunny".The story is about a post-feminist, thirty-something British woman who has a penchant for alcoholic binges, smoking, and an inability to control her weight. While trying to keep these things in check and also deal with her job in publishing, she visits her parents for a Christmas party. They try to set her up with Mark (Colin Firth), the visiting son of one of their neighbors.This movie could have fell flat on it's face by it's cliché story about a women that needs a man in her life, normally I hate those movies but this one I like, because the movie itself knows what it is and tries to be something new and clever with it's story and it's main heroine, and that's what made this movie worked. The writing in this movie took all the same story that has be recycled over and over again and made something good out of it, taking away the stuff that we seen before and putting something new and clever. This has to be Renée Zellweger best role that she was in. Playing the cheeky, caring and witty person that she is. The rest of the cast Colin Firth, Hugh Grant and Jim Broadbent did a great job in they roles. My only nick pick with the movie is the ending for me. It's not a terrible ending but it could have been better.