Jones returns as fantastic as ever
by Ashley Martin
the Carillon

Bridget Jones teaches us that finding happiness is possible, even when you’re 30 and have an ass the size of two bowling balls. The lovable diarist’s new movie captivates viewers just like the first Bridget Jones’s Diary did, only this time around brings a lot less fuckwittage, a lot less journalizing, and some more outrageous adventures.

The lovely, blondified Renee Zellweger once again transforms herself into the charmingly insecure Bridget Jones, having yet again gained her extra weight and English accent. The new movie sends the title character on a string of adventures, which include a mushroom trip, a pregnancy scare, a skiing mishap, a Thai prison and a lesbian encounter, not to mention her first true love.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason begins, once again, at the New Year’s Day turkey curry buffet, only this time it’s not the dreaded affair it always was. Bridget is in love with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), the very important human rights lawyer who loves her just as she is. The relationship turns awry, though, when Bridget’s jealous tendencies get the better of her, and she and Mark butt heads more than once. When (contrary to the novel) her sleazebag ex-boss Daniel Cleaver, played by Hugh Grant, waltzes back into her life, Bridget suddenly finds herself, once again, the wanton sex goddess of her last movie, and drama ensues ... along with a lot of laughs.

Renee Zellweger perfects Bridget Jones in this new movie. She truly becomes her character, and one with whom women everywhere can identify. Personally, I’ve loved Bridget Jones since I first discovered the original novel in grade 11. Though I was only 17 at the time and she was a good 10 years older than me… and fictional … we both kept diaries and we were both insecure, not to mention she was hilarious. Soon afterward, my love was personified as the story transitioned to the big screen and was amazingly entertaining. When I discovered the novel had a sequel, I thought I’d died. Who knew the sequel could top the original Bridget Jones’s Diary?

Looking forward to the release of the film The Edge of Reason was almost painful. I couldn’t wait to see how they’d capture Bridget’s interview with Colin Firth (Mr. Darcy, of Pride and Prejudice fame), especially since the acclaimed British actor plays her love interest (Mr. Darcy, of Bridget Jones fame). Though the one thing I truly remembered from the novel was cut out of the film, and though she doesn’t log her weight, alcohol units, cigarette or calorie intake in this film, Bridget’s adventures are exciting and funny enough to make up for the fact that she only writes in her diary once.

In this, Bridget’s triumphant and entertaining return to the big screen, we can live vicariously through her and undergo her embarrassing tribulations, taking comfort in the fact that only in fiction can a woman have the misfortune of experiencing such mortifying events almost daily and live through them. Bridget Jones is a funny inspiration to women everywhere.