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It’s been 12 years since audiences last connected with bumbling singleton Bridget Jones—and six years since we last saw Renée Zellweger on the big screen. And it seems fitting that, after all this time, the actress and her beloved character would make their return to the spotlight together for Bridget Jones’s Baby.
Bridget Jones’s Baby reunites with Zellweger’s Bridget on her 43rd birthday. She’s made it as a top London news producer, and she’s finally hit her target weight, but she’s still a singleton. After a wild whirlwind post-birthday week, however, she finds herself pregnant—and though it’s an exciting new development in her otherwise monotonous life, there’s one big problem: the father. She’s not sure whether it’s Jack (Patrick Dempsey), the American billionaire whom she met at a music festival, or Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), her newly-divorced long-ago love.
In recent months, there’s been a lot of talk (and speculation) about Renée Zellweger’s changing looks. But when she steps back into her role as Bridget, none of that really matters. She’s just the same lovably clumsy and sometimes excessively foul-mouthed single girl that fans fell in love with 15 years ago. Bridget may be a 40-something now, and she may have worked her way up to a great job producing hard-hitting news, but she’s just as adorably clumsy and clueless—and just as much fun—as she was in her 20s. She’s still the kind of girl that you’d want to drink with or go dancing with or eat ice cream with or just commiserate with.
Her story, too, is as amusingly awkward as ever, filled with the standard chick flick lies, cover-ups, misunderstandings, and stupid mistakes. At times, Bridget’s failure to tell the truth can be maddening—but it’s often understandable, too. She’s simply overwhelmed and uncomfortable—and she doesn’t know how to handle the situation. And, fortunately, while she could have spent the entire film lying about the baby’s father until her deception backfired on her (in typical rom-com style), she eventually comes clean, explaining the situation to both men—which opens the story up to more outrageous possibilities for the dueling dads.
Of course, this isn’t a smart, ground-breaking comedy—nor is it an inspiring film about a strong woman who doesn’t need a man to protect her from herself. But it is silly, sarcastic fun, with a great soundtrack and an irresistibly charming cast.
For fans of Bridget Jones’s Diary, Bridget Jones’s Baby is an entertaining reunion with most of the original cast—and a few likable new additions, too. So gather your craziest girlfriends together, ditch the Spanx, order some drinks, and enjoy some brainless laughs with this lovable mom-to-be.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
