Coming along after three movies of varying quality (the superb "Diary", the lacklustre "Edge Of Reason", and the enjoyable "Baby" adventure), Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy has been pitched as a welcome return of a beloved female character that all women are eager to catch up with. It's more than that though. This is the return of a British institution, an iconic British woman (albeit played by an American) who yearns for a dash of the kind of romance that often feels left in the past while striding bravely through every pitfall of the modern world. Each movie is, at the very least, a great mix of comedy and comfort, and there's a fantastic selection of British acting talent on display (many of them reprising their roles here, even if only for a brief moment).
Time has moved along, and life continues to deny Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger again, as if there could be a replacement for her at this stage) any kind of permanent happiness, or so it seems. She now has two children (Mabel, played by Mila Jankovic, and the older Billy Darcy, played by Casper Knopf), but her life has a Mark Darcy-shaped hole in it. There's still the occasional flirting from Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant, once again at his caddish best), but things finally start to look up when Bridget tries out Tinder and meets a young man named Roxster (Leo Woodall). Meanwhile, the children aren't always doing well, especially Billy, and this leads to a number of uncomfortable encounters with a new teacher, Mr. Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor).
While the director of To Leslie doesn't really feel like a natural fit for this material, it turns out that making that assumption would just make an ass out of us and Michael Morris. Morris has the good sense to not get in the way of a talented cast all having fun with the screenplay co-written by Dan Mazer, Abi Morgan, and, of course, Helen Fielding, adapting her own novel. There's everything you want in terms of amusing embarrassments, satisfying swearing, and fine comedy moments, but Morris does a great job of balancing everything out with a more serious central strand exploring loss and how to keep moving forward when the destination ahead seems to have nothing there for you.
Zellweger continues to shine in the role that she'll be identified with for all time, and she seems natural and effortless onscreen in a way that seems to convey her own love for the character. Jankovic and Knodf are solid child actors, the former involved in more of the sequences that cause our heroine to get a red face, and everyone else onscreen, old or new, feels like a perfect addition to this (final?) chapter. Woodall is helped by the fact that he has scenes that show off the affect he has on others around him, especially in a sequence that has him arriving late to a party just in time to act the hero, Ejiofor is playing the typical hard-shelled individual with the soft centre, and both Firth and Grant continue to be delightful in their respective roles. Emma Thompson, Sally Phillips, James Callis, Shirley Henderson, Neil Pearson, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Joanna Scanlan, Celia Imrie, Nico Parker, Claire Skinner, Sarah Solemani, Josette Simon, and Leila Farzad are all wonderful, not one of them letting the side down, and I'm probably still forgetting one or two people I will later kick myself for not mentioning. It's a shame that Isla Fisher is only seen for mere seconds, and I suspect some of her work may have ended up on the cutting-room floor, but such an abundance of riches makes that much easier to accept.
I went into this hoping to enjoy it. I came out of the cinema knowing that it was easily my second favourite of the foursome. I can imagine many other people will feel the same. What could have felt lazy and by-the-numbers instead turns out to be as surprising, in terms of the themes being satisfactorily explored, as it is satisfying and eager to meet all expectations. The only downside is that I would now welcome another cinematic journey through a new Bridget diary, but I also know that this is just about the most perfect ending that we could all have wished for.
8/10
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