Plot: What’s it about?
Taking a trip back to 2001, things were a lot different for me. I was a 28 year-old “professional” working in marketing and web development and I’d recently started dating a young lass. She’d just spent the past six months in London doing…I have no idea. But she, like many of American women, had/has a thing for the British. And so, on Friday April 13, 2001 we went to see Bridget Jones’ Diary. I’d not heard of the film nor had I heard of the novel(s) by author Janet Fielding. But hey, it’s what the new girlfriend wanted so off we went to see Renée Zellweger put on her best British accent, put on a few pounds and my eyebrow raised when I saw the size of her breasts. Maybe this movie wouldn’t be that bad after all? That was, as of this writing, nearly 25 years ago and we’re now presented with the fourth film in the franchise. After a quick search, it appears that there are only four books in the series, so it might be said that this will be the last film? Along the way Renée Zellweger was mainly known for her work in 1996’s Jerry Maguire. But since then she’s managed to carve out quite a career for herself that includes two Academy Awards (one for 2004’s Cold Mountain and the other for 2019’s Judy – along with her rather odd acceptance speech). Need I say more? Off we go, then…
It’s been a while since we last saw Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger). She married Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and they had a son, Billy. Time has passed and now Billy (Casper Knopf) is older. However, life has a way of throwing curve balls and we learn that Darcy was killed in Sudan. Bridget, now fully committed to motherhood occasionally remembers him (he visits her in “ghost” form). We see Bridget in her current situation of “widow” and how she manages to juggle motherhood and being middle-aged. She’s a shadow of her former, effervescent self but decides, literally, “it’s time to live.” Her friend (Emma Thompson, in a hilarious cameo) even advises her to return to work as a television producer. She does and also finds two potential new love interests: Mr. Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Roxster (Leo Woodall). What’s a lass to do?
I’m sure I’ll say this in the “The Bottom Line” section of this review below, but this movie isn’t (and never really was) geared towards someone like me. While I’ll freely and fully admit that I’ve seen every episode of Sex and the City (don’t get me started on the movies and And Just Like That…) multiple times, I’d never heard of Bridget Jones’ Diary (in book or movie form). And, oddly, I’ve seen every one of the films. Is this the upside or downside of running a movie review website? Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy doesn’t really break new ground. I can see many a woman taking a weekend day and binge-watching all four of the films with a box of Kleenex and a bottle of wine. Was the a pretentious statement? Simply put, if you liked the first three or the novels, then this one is right up your alley. It is a bit emotional, I didn’t cry, but I can see where many would. If it’s more of the same you’re after then look no further, just be warned that once you pop the movie in the player – you’ll know what to expect.
Video: How’s it look?
All of the Bridget Jones movies, for me, have always seemed to have a very bright, colorful and cheery look about them. Cheery? Yes. Quite. This latest installment is no exception and the 2.39:1 AVC HD encode might not have quite the color spectrum of a 4K movie, but then again it doesn’t really need to. For the masses, Blu-ray looks as good as most will ever want and need it to look so there’s that. Right then, moving on we find all the usual caveats with exceptional color, detail and strong, bold contrast. What more could we ask for? A couple of scenes seemed a bit on the softer side, but on the whole this new-to-the-format disc will keep everyone quite happy indeed.
Audio: How’s it sound?
As I pre-populate these reviews, I’d instinctually checked the “DTS Master” box. Wrong. For some odd reason, we’re gifted with a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack and one that’s not indicative of a Universal title. Never mind that, though. ‘Tis but an oversight. Kidding aside, the sound mix is surely what we’d expect for a film in this series or any romantic comedy. Vocals are bright and crisp, Zellweger’s British accent is (to me, at least) on par with her other outings. Not to be outdone by the vocals, we get a nice, breezy ambient mix and not to be overlooked we get a nice reminder of the great David Bowie with “Modern Love” booming in one scene. Did anyone else tear up then? Yeah, me neither.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Deleted Scenes – Four total, though none really add much to the plot I don’t see the reason why at least one of these weren’t included. Oh well.
- Bridget Arrives and Struggles to Figure Out the Lift
- Birthday Invite
- Bridget Meets Nicolette, Gets Drunk and Resulting Hangover
- Bridget and Kids Watch Rebecca From the Window
- Back to Bridget – Renée Zellweger dishes the dirt on returning to her beloved English character after nearly a decade and we get some insight from Morris as well as author Janet Fielding.
- Bridget 4.0 – The Making Of – Again Zellweger discusses the character she’s played for nearly a quarter of a century as well as some comments from Morris and the supporting cast.
- Mad About the Boys – Director Michael Morris, Hugh Grant and Zellweger dish on her character as well as the new faces this time around.
The Bottom Line
In 2001 had you told me that nearly a quarter of a century later we’d still see Renée Zellweger portraying Bridget Jones, I wouldn’t have known what to say. But…here we are. Granted, these movies aren’t exactly targeted towards my demographic, but I can see the universal (pardon the pun) appeal of the character. The fourth installment delivers the goods in a cheery, yet eerily tearful way. Universal’s disc, as expected, looks (and sounds) the part.
