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★★★★
Directed by Sharon Maguire
Starring Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Patrick Dempsey, Emma Thompson, Gemma Jones & Jim Broadbent
Film Review by Dean Pettipher
In no small part is the world indebted to Bridget Jones, certainly one of film's most effervescent personalities, for making that much-needed time spent in solitude with Ben and Jerry's ice cream socially acceptable. Or at least forgivable. Jones also taught us that it is totally okay to not have your life together by the time you reach your twenties, or thirties, or even forties, assuming one defines the peak of that mountain as finding and settling down with a life partner in romantic love. The Bridget Jones series of movies to date (2001-2016) has consistently told stories that are prevalent with such themes in an expertly light-hearted manner that never fails to conjure up laughter and mournful sadness in more or less equal measure. The latest diary entry, a tale filled with serendipity justified principally by the sheer charisma of all of the major players, delivers just that, in a well-overdue comedy, which, like the James Bond series (1962-2015) or the Mission Impossible series (1996-2015), leaves one silently praying for more.
Bridget Jones's Baby has a fantastic, carefully-selected soundtrack of chart hits, some oldish and some new, wonderfully accompanies an assortment of great jokes. Albeit they vary in originality and wit, almost all of them inspire laughter, courtesy of consistently flawless and evidently painstakingly earned comic timing in front of the camera.
Audiences will aquiver in their entities with delight at the boundless levels of charm on display by all of the leading stars and their supporting cast alike. While Renée Zellweger shines as always at the forefront of the adventure, she is accompanied by two equally becoming love interests, each one a determined model of that knight in shining armour, both within and without, played with admirable eloquence by Colin Firth and Patrick Dempsey respectively. Moreover, Emma Thompson adds yet another spark to the already well-illuminated movie theatre as the Angel in the form of Bridget's doctor and confidant throughout her most recent unplanned but nonetheless beautiful mess at the heart of this latest instalment.
Occasionally some characters serving as the antagonists seem like pantomime villains and are consequently at risk of growing two-dimensional. Thus, the gags related to them once or twice come across as cheesy. However, the humour, overall, thanks to the aforementioned terrific performances and superb comic timing, ultimately and clearly prevails.
To top it all off, for those who can't contain themselves because just under one hundred days remain until the big day, granting them with the green light for party preparations, photo-shoot ambitions and at least a faint consideration of what memories might define their holiday season this year, there are gleeful, unashamed hints of Christmas. Noel's presentation is notable and necessary but fortunately not excessive, intended not to irritate but rather to serve the film's primary purpose of instilling as pure a joy as a film possibly could within the otherwise desperately turbulent journey of love. Hopefully, just hopefully, this journey won't end here.
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