“Bridget Jones’ Diary” (2001)
I didn’t watch Bridget Jones’ Diary because it’s a holiday movie, but it opens and closes at the holidays, so it was a happy coincidence.
This is a silly little film that somehow rises above its own absurdity to reach an almost alarming level of charm and hilarity. Zellweger actually appears human with her extra 25 pounds. Colin Firth brings dignity to a role that could have been thin and ridiculous. And Hugh Grant plays the cad, a role he’s much better suited for than the bumbling nice guy that he usually plays. He captures it nicely when he says he’s a guy with a posh accent and a terrible character.
Not high art by any means, and left me with a lurking uneasiness about why Mark Darcy would fancy Bridget, as she’s such the opposite of Lizzie Bennett. But as an everywoman caricature of normal insecurities, and a fantasy of “getting” Mr. Darcy, it works. Like a charm.
December 31st, 2009 at 2:22 am
I read the books before I saw the movies. I read them over a Christmas break, years ago, perfect fluff read, and I found the whole Darcy/Colin Firth thing so funny that tears streamed from my eyes as I laughed and laughed while I read. If I had seen the movie before I read the books, I doubt it would have struck me as so funny.