Review of Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) by Halfwelshman — 21 Nov 2012

The film adaptation of Bridget Jones's Diary is sweet, honest, hilarious and has a great British cast (and Renee Zellweger, whose accent is thankfully utterly convincing). Bridget Jones makes a compelling heroine who's a real joy to spend time with, and you're carried along nicely with the highs and lows (mostly lows) of her life as a thirty-something singleton looking to improve her life on romantic, professional and emotional terms.

The film doesn't make any major changes to the classic rom-com formula, but when a film is this emotionally engaging, well-written (by Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis), confidently directed (by Sharon Maguire) and so ably performed by the cast, it doesn't really need to stand out much from the crowd.

You might find yourself shifting a bit uncomfortably towards the end as Bridget, like many rom-com protagonists takes a painfully long time to make the right decision, but a rewarding side story exploring the strained relationship of Bridget's parents (Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones) helps keep emotion levels high even if the main plot begins to tire.

And Bridget really isn't fat, she's woman-shaped. Bridget Jones's Diary is still a great romantic comedy film that delivers everything it promises - laughter, tears and a comforting warm fuzzy feeling inside.