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What better place to see Bridget Jones : The Edge of Reason than in a London Odeon? The typical British humour, the locations and the stiff upper lips are the local ingredients which somehow manage to put a smile to my face without any of the actors having uttered a word. Renée Zellweger gained 30 pounds and put on a jolly good British accent again to bring the loveable Bridget back to the screen in this sequel.
I had high hopes for this film as it was produced by Tim Bevan (who is responsible for some of my favourite films, including My Beautiful Laundrette, The Tall Guy and High Fidelity) and directed by Beeban Kidron who directed the excellent BBC TV series Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. However, I did wonder how they would manage to continue the story with the happy end from part 1 as Bridget had then ended up with the ‘nice guy’ Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and was to live happily ever after. They solved that problem within five minutes by having Bridget voice the same question: “What happens after they live happily ever after?” as she runs over London’s Primrose Hill wearing a Sound of Music costume. She elaborates: “You think you’ve found the right man, but there’s so much wrong with him, and then he finds there’s so much wrong with you, and then it all just falls apart”.
It was the little details in Bridget Jones (1) which made her so endearing and easy to relate to. Those little things are drowned in a much more exaggerated and implausible plot in this sequel, culminating in a brief but “oh so jolly” interlude in a Thai prison. Admittedly, Bridget’s “Like a Virgin” sing-a-long in prison did make me snigger and there were many other moments that made me laugh out loud, but having seen part 1, I knew the scriptwriters could do better than this.
Not only the storylines were exaggerated: for some reason the make-up department made Renée Zellweger look decidedly unhealthy this time. It didn’t have much to do with the weight she gained to play the role as her body looked fine and refreshingly ‘realistic’ on the big screen. It was more her puffy red face and unbrushed hair. A British friend of mine complained, “I bet the Americans think all British women look like Bridget Jones now”.
You don’t neccesarily have see part 1 to enjoy part 2, but it helps you understand some of the ‘in-crowd’ jokes. Despite my above complaints, The Edge of Reason was a perfectly enjoyable way to spend a Friday evening and for lovers of rom-coms (Weefselkweekje?) a must-see.
suzero (90 posts)Suzanna Noort - TV/video director/editor and multimedia something. Amsterdam, Netherlands
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I found this quite disappointing. It was not for being dragged along by my girlfriend – I did like the first Bridget Jones – but this one desperately tried to elaborate on the succesful ingredients of the first movie. They tried too hard, judged on the scenes in the Thai prison and the big plot holes.
Also, I don’t like Renee Zellweger. At all. Her British accent was too thickly set (with her “uhw” all the time) and the slapstick bits were a bit daft. You could not see why she and Firth hooked up in the first place, them being so different. Throughout the movie there’s still no explanation of their infatuation.
They should’ve kept it with the first one only and I think that Kate Winslet still would’ve been the better choice for this one, despite the good performance she gave in “Diary”.
Comment by Paco — Sat December 18, 2004 @ 12:21Well, this one was enjoyable, but turned out to be a series of sketches, rather than one complete movie. Anyway: I enjoyed it, since Zellweger has some comedy qualities, but as a movie it was so so
Comment by arjan — Sun December 19, 2004 @ 8:17When I saw a trailer of the the first movie today, I noticed that most jokes have been completely recycled: the silly jumpers, the big butt-jokes, the sissy fighting of the men, everything.
That makes it even worse.
Comment by Paco — Sat January 1, 2005 @ 20:09Having watched part one again last night with someone who had seen part 2 first, I realized that one is not better than the other, it’s just so recycled, as you say Paco, that the first one you see will probably be enjoyed more than the second – purely based on originality, not on the films themselves.
Comment by suzero — Sun January 2, 2005 @ 14:29I just watched this (on DVD) and have to say I really enjoyed it. I didn’t mind the recycled-ness of it as it really was a Part 2… Yes, it was a bit OTT and contrived in places but nonetheless entertaining.
Suzero – you’re spot on with her make-up and hair looking so bad (what was that all about). I didn’t think – despite the weight gain – that she looked fat either! (Perhaps I need to immerse myself in some glossy fashion magazines…). And I agree with you on the attention paid to those small things that we can all relate to…
What was interesting on the DVD version were four deleted scenes. One was on her reporting on fox hunting in Britain which was hilarious and would have been quite um… topical if it had been left in. (It was left out because there was another similar storyline scene.)
However, one scene should have been left in! It was a lovely scene where Darcy and Bridgett bump into each other at a christening just after they’ve broken up. It’s beautifully bittersweet and realistic and I think they should have left it in. It would have been just before she went to Thailand. And I must admit, when I was watching it (and unaware of deleted scene), I did think it was quite a big jump with them breaking up and her going to Thailand…
I hope one day they release a DVD of Edge of Reason: Zellweger’s Cut as she apparently wanted that and a couple of other scenes left in… It would have completed it.
Plus, there was an alternative opening scene which was left out because they obviously decided to open it with the Christmas scene again – which film buffs and those who are always late everywhere they go (cough) would have loved…
Comment by PiP — Tue April 12, 2005 @ 23:28oh no … I disagree. i was trapped on a plane for 11 hours and I was much more entertained watching the seat tray in front of me than i was watching this movie. Recycled isn’t a strong enough word for how bad this was!
Comment by marisa — Wed April 13, 2005 @ 21:09Thing is, I thougt that in the first movie Bridget was a charming klutz who you could not help falling in love with. The second movie was just a lot of “let’s make fun of the fat girl” and that did not sit well with me at all! And the most hilarious part of the book (where Bridget does an interview with Colin Firth) was completely left out of the film. Now I do admitt that that would have been a bit of a logistical challenge, but it was so funny! The movie felt (as PiP wrote above) unfinished and repetitive. I thougt it had none of the charm that made the first one so irrisistible.
Comment by mariken — Thu April 14, 2005 @ 22:18“rating5″
It was simply just not as good as the first one. Just saw this recently on HBO in fact and couldn’t sit through 10 minutes of it.
Comment by Scriptillusion — Wed September 3, 2008 @ 18:43Never saw either one of them!!
Comment by Walleye Man — Mon September 8, 2008 @ 0:59much better than first one
Comment by coolbudy — Thu October 23, 2008 @ 14:35I love both Bridget movies and all the actors. I wonder who these people are who make these negative comments – actors who didn’t get the part?
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Comment by Heru Kurniawan — Thu March 11, 2010 @ 10:00Never saw either one of them
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