Like every other movie in the franchise, Michael Morris’ fourth installment, Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy, begins with a prologue delivered by Bridget Darcy (Renée Zellweger), née Jones. Before the opening credits roll, we are introduced to two significant deaths in Bridget’s life that establish the film’s tone. First, there is Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), her husband and soul mate, and then there is her father Colin (Jim Broadbent), who asks her a simple question before passing: “can you survive?” Obviously, our former chain-smoking heroine will stumble, but in true Bridget Jones fashion, she will land on her feet, walk with her head held high, and live.
Despite her difficult circumstances of late, Bridget is still the same character we’ve come to know and love after all these years. Her love for a lip-syncing montage remains steadfast, for example. In the original Bridget Jones’s Diary, our titular protagonist lip-syncs to Jamie O’Neal’s cover of “All By Myself” in a pair of red penguin pajamas with a cigarette and bottle of red wine after Mark Darcy rudely rejects her. Her performance is a little sad, in the solipsistic sense, but also endearing. In Bridget Jones’s Baby, we once again find our heroine alone, wearing the same pajamas in her Zone 1 flat, but rather than sinking into her sadness, she blasts House of Pain’s “Jump Around” and dances on beat. Now, in her early 50s, Bridget wakes up in the red pajamas and begins her day with David Bowie’s “Modern Love,” a song that has come to be closely associated with women finding themselves thanks to its Frances Ha connotations, but this time, she’s surrounded by her children Billy (Casper Knopf) and Mabel (Mila Jankovic). Who would’ve thought that Bridget Jones, a character known for languishing in her insecurities and verbal incontinence, would become a mother? Let alone Mrs. Darcy? She’s still messy, of course, which her disheveled appearance signals, but talk about growth!
Unlike previous Bridget Jones installments where Bridget’s topsy-turvy love life takes center stage, this time around Bridget’s happiness is no longer controlled by men. She’s good at her job as a television producer, achieved the love of her life, and had kids. Romance is still a part of the picture — the original novel and film are based off of the Pride and Prejudice marriage plot after all — but she’s mourning. Her fling with Roxster (Leo Goodall), a hot 29-year-old garbage man, and her connection with her son’s science teacher Mr. Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor), are left to simmer on the back burner. For the most part, Bridget’s suitors mirror the love triangle from the first Bridget Jones film. There is an obvious right and wrong answer in terms of an acceptable love interest for our heroine, but both characters are really there to serve Bridget’s character development. They show us her current status as a modern woman rather than functioning as her only gateway to a socially acceptable life. Roxster — what a name, right? — brings her out of hiatus. She gets a Brazilian and begins to feel desire again, but is ultimately also rocked by the norms of Millennial dating. Mr. Wallaker, on the other hand, is a slow burn; not the love of her life like Mark Darcy, but he’s stable and good with her kids — her priority.
One man who does still hold court in Bridget’s life is Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant). Pronounced dead in Bridget Jones’s Baby for whatever reason (supposed plane crash, perhaps?), he’s now back with more life than ever, serving as a surrogate drunk uncle of sorts to Bridget’s children, where he teaches them to make the cocktail he has cheerfully named “the filthy bitch” while babysitting. Unlike Zellweger, who tends to play tenacious albeit sometimes tragic leading ladies, Grant has recently made the switch from bumbling charmer to unexpected villain in films like Heretic, Dungeons & Dragons, and Paddington 2, among others. And yet in this film, Grant confuses his formula again. Here, he blends these two typecasting lanes, and then adds a healthy dose of pathos to his character. Like Bridget, Daniel Cleaver is taking his own walk through life; it just happens to be a lot more lonely than hers. After a stint in the hospital where he is reminded that he has a heart, he asks Bridget, his supposed next of kin, “would we say I’ve become a fraction tragic?” Alienated from his son, and basically every woman he’s ever slept with, Bridget doesn’t leave her old friend hanging in his time of need. Seeing his pain, she recommends a fresh start. There’s always time for “a new Daniel.”
Like Bridget’s pajamas and the reappearance of her ex-lover, Mad About the Boy playfully uses nostalgia to engage with its audience. Emma Thompson pops back up as Bridget’s gynecologist, as do Bridget’s besties Tom (James Callis), Shazzer, (Sally Phillips), and Jude (Shirley Henderson). Bridget’s sartorial choices likewise function as fan service: these items include a pair of control underwear, Bridget’s see-through gold top from her publishing days, and Mark Darcy’s reindeer sweater. Meanwhile, Mrs. Jones (Gemma Jones), Bridget’s mother, stays much the same. She continues to wreak havoc like Mrs. Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, but for the most part everyone has simply grown up.
The only person missing from Mad About the Boy‘s narrative is Mark Darcy. He makes a handful of ghostlike appearances on screen, lingering for a few seconds of heartbreaking eye contact before disappearing once again. His shift from life to death makes Bridget’s story tragic, but she handles the minor chords with grace and a rehearsed smile. Rather than using his death as a plot point — like, for instance, Mr. Big in And Just Like That… — Mark Darcy’s absence is felt and embedded throughout the film. Bridget is never not struggling with her grief, but she moves onward. She manages the voices in her head, her children’s grief, Daniel Cleaver’s remorse, and Mark Darcy’s ghost with as much integrity as she can muster. She’s not exactly realistic, and at this point seems almost saintlike despite the mess, but she is aspirational. She is, and remains, Bridget Jones.
DIRECTOR: Michael Morris; CAST: Renée Zellweger, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Leo Woodall; DISTRIBUTOR: Peacock; STREAMING: February 13; RUNTIME: 2 hr. 4 min.
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