Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
The first one may well be my wife’s favorite film. Despite owning it on DVD and having watched said DVD about 40,587 times, she also watches it pretty much every single time it turns up on cable. It’s gotten to the point where I have to run screaming from the room at the first sight of the picture just to preserve my sanity.
And now there’s a sequel? God have mercy on me. What am I in for this time?
If no one else is going to write to you about the test screening of BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON this past Wednesday in Sherman Oaks, then I guess the duty falls to me.
"Edge of Reason" (directed by Beeban Kidron, written by Helen Fielding, Richard Curtis, Adam Brooks, and Andrew Davies) has its wide U.S. release in January, but it looked to be very nearly finished despite the usual disclaimer that it was a "work in progress."
Anyway, here's the setup. The movie picks up not long after "Diary" left off, with Bridget (indie queen Renee Zellweger of "Empire Records" and "Love and a ..45") now in a happy relationship with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth, sure to be teaching at Hogwarts any day now). Clearly, these two are going to have to be somehow separated if the movie plans on being interesting, so right away we are shown elements of friction in their couplehood. Bridget is bubbly, doting, and informal, whereas Mark acts as though he just stepped out of "Howard's End." Underneath the stuffy exterior is genuine love and affection for Bridget, of course, but Mark is reluctant to show this side in public and Bridget never really understands why. Their wildly different backgrounds and philosophies also clash, most notably in a scene where they argue over how to raise a theoretical child. After a series of misadventures in which Bridget embarrasses Mark in front of his colleagues, she leaves him rather impulsively, saying things apparently hurtful enough to convince Mark not to call her again. Now Bridget is back where she was in the first movie (sad, single, and bored), so it's time for the reappearance of Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant, again much funnier when he's evil). Daniel is now a TV personality with a travelogue show, and the network wants Bridget to be his companion on a trip to Bangkok. Will Bridget go with him? Will she fall for his devilish charms yet again? Will she reach Fort Knox before Goldfinger sets off his atomic bomb and irradiates the entire American gold reserve? The movie annoyingly leaves the third question unanswered, but rest assured that the plot makes some interesting and unexpected turns before reaching the inevitable romantic ending where everything is finally okay again.
I enjoyed the hell out of this movie: it's got plenty of great laughs, the acting is excellent all around (especially Hugh Grant and Colin Firth), and the romantic stuff is done fairly well for the most part. However, the filmmakers are definitely going for more broad comedy and less introspection this time around: on the whole, the movie feels a little slight. Still, anyone who sees this should have a good time (regardless of whether or not they've seen the first film), and these days that's more than most comedies can offer.
--Necros
Okay. Sounds fine, I suppose. All I’m really required to do is sit through it once, that first time, and then she’s on her own for the next 500,000 viewings. One more good review would make me feel a lot better about my eventual duty:
I went to a screening at the Galleria in Sherman Oaks on Wednesday night, to see what was introduced to us as the "first viewing ever" of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. Being a huge fan of both books as well as of the first film, expectations were high. Like many other chicks my age, I totally related to Bridget. Understood her self-doubt, her reliance on her friends, her worries that she would die alone and be eaten by an Alsatian.
On the whole, Edge of Reason definitely didn't disappoint. Renee Zellweger's Bridget was just as full of those markedly lovable qualities that resonated in the first one: a tendency to babble, a clumsiness, a natural self-deprecating mind. There was a higher use of physical comedy in this one, building on Bridget's hijinks with the tv station and spilling over into her daily life - there's an entire section where she's turned out in this stunning gold dress that both brings out her "average" beauty and her comedic prowess, as she duck-waddles around hampered by the tight fit.
Renee seems so comfortable in the role of Bridget that it's no wonder the embarrassments they push her through; it's as if she's contractually obligated to having every prettiness stripped away. She's continually doused with water and given horrible clothes and put in awkward situations, which I suppose is what it's all about, but sometimes you wish that she could just look good for a moment or two. After the unintentionally humorous role she played in Cold Mountain, Renee's deft handling of some Benny Hill inspired set-ups is refreshing and strangely honest.
Along with Bridget's enormous underpants, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) and Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) both make return appearances. This is where the primary changes come, as Bridget remains the same self-doubting and neurotic git that all the girls I know identified with to a certain degree... it's the men who have grown the most since the last film. Colin Firth is absolutely sigh-worthy, taking the stern and reserved Darcy and giving him romantic shadings of sweetness and humor in his dealings with Bridget. Their relationship seems believable and sincere, largely because you want Bridget to have a proper boyfriend so badly. For those of us who lusted after him as the original Darcy in the BBC's "Pride and Prejudice", watching Colin step so comfortably into those leading man shoes is validating.
Hugh Grant - who so clearly relishes playing the rake - is an even dirtier Cleaver this time around, albeit with less overall screentime. In the cut that we saw, there are even a couple of gay-implication asides uttered by Daniel, although I'd be surprised if they made it into the theatrical release. Although the first go-around offered chances for Daniel to seem redeemable, he's an unabashed cad in this one - which makes Bridget's momentary relapse with him seem disappointing (although, based on the sexy charm he exhibits, it's still totally believable). I'd love to see Hugh's Daniel Cleaver have a go at the floppy Edward from "Four Weddings", although he'd probably be too busy in bed with all of the bridesmaids to have time for it.
The story line picks and chooses which of the many subplots in the book to follow, and trims the fat away nicely. Her parents and friends are much less involved, allowing for the bulk of the film to rest on the Mark-Bridget angle. Here's where any problems I had with the film lay: Mark and Bridget are great together, and even her nervous sleuthing and worries that he's having an affair with the gorgeous Rebecca (Jacinda Barrett) aren't given enough actual mistaken moments to take root. I know that it's general in these stories for a misunderstanding to set everything in motion, but the things that Bridget overhears and spies are so meaningless you're surprised that even SHE would feel threatened by them. This might have something to do with the fact that Rebecca never seems a real menace... or even a real character. And I don't even want to touch the ridiculous "reveal" at the end, because I'm hard pressed to believe that they'd keep it in. Not because it seems distasteful, but because it's so not backed up by her earlier actions.
Final complaint: Bridget Jones is not fat! It's SO annoying to hear her include that in her final plea to Mark, that she realizes her shortcomings (and one of them is her weight). A lot of press ink has been given to the thirty pounds or whatever that Renee put on for this role, but as she started at about a buck-two, it's hardly gargantuan. Fine, Bridget has a horrible sense of style and wears remarkable ill-fitting jackets. Fine, Bridget continually embarrasses herself, mostly in direct proportion to the caliber of people around her. Fine, Bridget has bad luck and a horrible haircut and seems to always get rained on. But to have her simplify her problems with her self into just being "fat" is ludicrous.
Anyway, altogether it was a really fun time - some really hysterical bits (Bridget skiing, Bridget skydiving, Bridget eating bugs), and some really sweet, lovely moments. Plus, there's another dragged out sissy fight between Mark and Daniel. Even the ridiculous situations - Bridget in a Thai prison - seem palatable because of the overall enjoyment. Anyway, that's all for me - can't wait to see what they end up taking out...
- The Silk Spectre
(I've never written in before and I don't know if you maybe don't want to use anything from this in case it gives too much away in advance... fun movie, though. And I love your site!)
Sissy fight?!? You’ve said the magic words! Consider my ticket freakin’ sold!
"Moriarty" out.
