Bridget Jones's Baby

source: Bridget Jones's Baby

Movie makers do not admit it publicly, but there have always been 'women's films' and 'men's films'. Historically, the film industry catered more to the male viewpoint by favouring action drama but in the post-feminist era the female perspective is prominent. The Bridget Jones franchise is part of the shifting cinema landscape where along with other sisterhood films like Absolutely Fabulous (2016), Maggie's Plan (2016) and Embrace (2016), women's uniqueness is celebrated while men are sidelined. Seeing Bridget still fighting her demons as a loveless and childless 43 year-old is an unlikely sounding plot line, but Renee Zellweger pulls it off with intelligent hilarity and ruthless tugs on heart-strings. The story premise lies in the film title: Bridget Jones' Baby. Now a successful television producer, Bridget is a lonely celibate still longing for her Mr Darcy (Colin Firth) who married someone else. Her inner-circle girl-talk is liberally peppered with phallic references and Bridget is told she needs to get laid to get real. At a camp-in music festival, which includes a hilarious cameo by Ed Sheeran, she ends up in the bed of a stranger called Jack (Patrick Dempsey). It is not long before she also ends up in Mr Darcy's bed, so of course when the pregnancy kit shows positive she doesn't know who is the dad. Muddle-headed before pregnancy, her antics while eating for two are borderline zany but always endearing. Bridget is torn between fantasy options: the romantic machismo and good humour of Jack versus the imperiously handsome Mr Darcy with eyes that make words redundant. Through it all, Bridget is still the lovable awky girl we met long ago, still stumbling through life like in a montage of slapstick sketches where her cute squinty smile wins every time. There are not many laugh-out-loud romantic comedies that have story lines funny enough to hold your attention for two hours. This one works because it has the twin propulsion of being both personality-driven and plot-driven, liberally splashed with grown-up gags and plot twists. There is a strong cast of well-known actors and the filming across various London locations is sumptuous. The over-thinkers might wonder if we will ever move beyond Jane Austen's "truth universally acknowledged" that a woman's destiny is in the arms of a wealthy man. But this is not feminism; it is pure entertainment that is delivered in spades, and you can expect to leave the show cheering that Bridget got her man.

Where to start, even the premise of this plot is offensive and off- putting. And much of the writing is equally crude and vulgar. Definitely not funny and often left me squirming in my seat; what were the writers and producers thinking. Oh wait, I know, money and profits, a paycheck for everyone; let's capitalize on Bridget Jones, a known money maker. Well, greed has finally killed the goose for me regarding future Bridget Jones films. They should all, including the actors and crew, be embarrassed about being part of this god awful mess. Glad to see that Hugh Grant had the good sense to opt out of this one. And I'm surprised to see Emma Thompson's name associated with this classless screenplay.

There is, indeed, something wrong with Zellweger's face job. The stretched eyes, the botoxed forehead, the puffed out lips - made a joke out of the Bridget Jones character. And the British accent - by now wouldn't it be MORE believable after the third outing instead of something from a high school drama class? Zellweger's scrunched up facial expressions have become identical - pain, thinking, happy all look the same. The premise of the movie - that a 43-year-old woman can't tell who fathered her child - is painfully stupid.