The movie of the book of the newspaper column. The one that spawned the phrases 'Singleton' and 'Smug Married'
I want to say I am a guy. I am married with children, and yes, I guess some people would call me smug. I loved this movie, even though Hollywood calls it a Chick flick, and aimed it at single 20-something women. Loved it? Well, I laughed until I nearly wet my pants. I also cringed and squirmed, but I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.
It's not politically correct. It's not serious and it's definitely a no-no to treat the heroine as any kind of serious sociological phenomenon, though (almost) all the single 30-something women I know find something to identify with in the columns, the book, and especially the movie.
The plot
Ever read Pride and Prejudice?
Helen Fielding, English 40-ish author of the original columns published in the UK newspaper, The Independent, and then compiled into a book, said she stole the plot of the Jane Austen novel for BJD. There's our heroine (Bridget) There is a hunk, who turns out to be a cad and a bounder. There is a stuffy rich guy, to whom the heroine takes an instant dislike (and vice versa). The story revolves around the air-headed, but immensely-likeable heroine and how she falls for the bounder, is betrayed and finally discovers that the stuffy guy is the love of her life, only to (almost) lose him.
Bridget is a single 30-something woman employed in publishing. She has a lot of close friends who are also either single 30-something women, or single, 30-something gay men. They drink, party and look for partners, but never quite seem to find them. Bridget starts to keep a diary, reporting her weight, alcohol consumption, number of cigarettes and details of her (lack of) love life. She dreads visiting the smug marrieds and her mother and other relatives, who always seem to ask how her love life is going.
The story revolves around how she meets and starts dating the first guy, how she discovers that he is a scoundrel, and eventually finds happiness with the second. As predictable as any Austen novel, but much, much funnier.
The cast
Bridget Jones is played by
Renée Zellweger (You saw her in
Jerry Maguire and
Me, Myself and Irene)
Daniel Cleaver is played by
Hugh Grant (you saw him in just about every English film, but especially
Four Weddings and
Notting Hill)
Mark Darcy is played by
Colin Firth (BBC viewers saw him in
Pride and Prejudice, but movie goers saw him in
Shakespeare in Love and
Fever Pitch).
The role of Mark Darcy has an interesting history, in that while Fielding was writing the original newspaper columns, the BBC was showing Pride and Prejudice as a TV serialisation. Colin Firth was playing the role of Mr. Darcy in that adaptation, and Fielding wrote him into Bridget Jones. There was little choice but to use Firth in the Bridget Jones movie.Fortunately, he was very happy with the character and its gradual revelation to the audience.
The Texan actress Zellweger was an inspired choice for Jones. As part of her preparations, Zellweger had to add over 10 pounds to her normally-svelte figure.She achieved this through a diet of burgers, chips, Pizza and ice cream. It's a tough job, but someone had to do it! In addition, she had to acquire a convincing English accent. The production company found her a job in a UK publishing company (Picador, based in London), making tea, operating the photocopier, answering phones and so on. Zellweger successfully convinced her co-workers that her real name was Bridget Cavendish, and she lived in the English Home counties.
The full listing (thanks, IMDB)
Director: Sharon Maguire
Running time: 95 minutes
- Renée Zellweger ...... Bridget Jones
- Gemma Jones .......... Bridget's Mum (Pam Jones)
- Celia Imrie ............... Una Alconbury
- James Faulkner (I) .... Uncle Geoffrey Alconbury
- Jim Broadbent .......... Bridget's Dad (Colin Jones)
- Colin Firth ................ Mark Darcy
- Charmian May .......... Mrs. Darcy
- Hugh Grant .... .......... Daniel Cleaver
- Paul Brooke (I) ........ Mr. Kenneth Fitzherbert/'Mr. Tits Pervert'
- Felicity Montagu ....... Perpetua (as Felicity Montague)
- Shirley Henderson (I . Jude
- Sally Phillips ............. Shazzer
- James Callis .............. Tom
- Charlie Caine ............ Handsome Stranger
- Gareth Marks ........... Simon in Marketing
- John Clegg ............... Elderly Man
- Salman Rushdie ........ Himself
- Embeth Davidtz ........ Natasha
- Matthew Bates (II) ... Kafka Author
- Jeffrey Archer .......... Himself
- Patrick Barlow ......... Julian
- Rebecca Charles (I) . Receptionist
- Honor Blackman ...... Penny Husbands-Bosworth
- Dominic McHale ...... Bernard
- Joan Blackham ......... Shirley
- Lisa Barbuscia .......... Lara
- Joseph Alessi ............ Interviewer 1
- Rhydian Jai-Persad ... Interviewer 2
- Neil Pearson (I) ........ Richard Finch
- Paul Ross (III) ......... Mr. Sit Up Britain
- Stewart Wright ......... Stage Manager
- Claire Skinner (I) ..... Magda
- Dolly Wells .............. Woney
- Mark Lingwood ....... Cosmo
- Toby Whithouse ....... Alastair
- David Cann .............. Cameraman
- Lisa Kay .................... Eleanor Ross Heaney
- Sulayman Al-Bassam .. Kafir Aghani
- Donald Douglas (III) ... Mr. Darcy
- Renu Setna ................. Mr. Ramdas
- Joshua Manasseh ........ Young Mark
- Kia O'Hara ................. Young Bridget
- rest of cast listed alphabetically
- Emma Amos ............... Pauline (uncredited)
- Julian Barnes (II) ......... Himself (uncredited)
- Crispin Bonham-Carter. Greg (uncredited)
- Max Digby .................. Office worker (uncredited)
- Ben Peyton .................. Bridegroom (uncredited)
- Sara Stockbridge ......... Melinda (uncredited)
The soundtrack
- Songs not included in the soundtrack:
- Respect - Aretha Franklin
- Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Andy Williams
- Woman Trouble - Artful Dodger
Hmm, seems like an addendum is called for
TheLady, as always, adds some geat pointers, and hers is a far more serious critical review than mine. Besides, she noded the whole of P&P, and Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility and Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park so she, if anyone should know. Go ahead, read her write-ups. learn from them and upvote them.