Bridget Jones - Am Rande des Wahnsinns

Oh the expectations are high and the studio is bumping up the release date but what about the film? In the case of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, it was inevitable that the freshness and sheer pleasure of a funny, heartfelt love story of Bridget Jones's Diary, would be a hard act to top much less follow. While entertaining in its own way and filled with enough charm and wit to keep things moving and interesting, it is a step down for the Helen Fielding heroine. No Oscar nominations are forthcoming this time.

Not a couple months have passed as our favorite British journalist (played with gusto by Renee Zellweger) is dating her dream beau, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth returns as a noble steed). Slowly, our Bridget notices a young female clinging to her man on a regular basis, and with life full of its insecurities, doubts and suspicions are thus born. Enter handsome Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant is as dashing as ever) who wants to rekindle an earlier romance with Bridget who wonders if he has mended his philandering ways. That pretty well sums up the main storyline. There are a few other minor story threads such as Bridget's parents getting remarried, but they are few and far between.

Zellweger is always appealing even as an overweight, accident-prone romantic. Fans may be a bit startled to see her appearance after a few years of terrific performances in slimmed down roles. Firth, who was handpicked by author Fielding, duplicates his steady, straightlaced lawyer while Grant spices the sexual scenery with his bad boy ways. You will recognize returning supporting characters from before including James Broadbent as Bridget's dad, a role that is minimal at best.

While the screenplay has some nice bits of dialogue and one-liners, the whole thing just doesn't come together as a satisfying whole. There are no real surprises here in the story even though it contains a couple of mild shocks in plot line. The direction is not as crisp as before-this time Beeban Kidron(Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar) takes the helm in not quite inspired fashion. Where is original director, Sharon Maguire? Maybe frequent scribe Richard Curtis would have been perfect. Just one of his story lines in Love Actually is as good as or better than anything in Edge of Reason.

Perhaps the biggest problem with this film is that it is a chore to find anything truly engaging or to feel any sympathy and concern for Zellweger's character. In addition, there was an absence of really funny situations without seeming to be contrived. Maybe that's being picky, but that's the level of satisfaction Bridget Jones's original incarnation has engendered.

Having seen the first version, I was looking forward to a good laugh. However this movie really failed to live up to it. Actually perhaps the movie cannot be blamed for it since the storyline itself is quite ridiculous, There was no reason for the Darcy- Bridget split in the first place. Nor the absurd antics with Hugh Grant (the prostitute was in pretty poor taste). The mid-life crisis which is so refreshing in the first movie sounds boring and repetitive.

Renee Zelwegger, looks haggard and unattractive. Also she seems to be overly neurotic - a trait that begins to grate on the nerves. Darcy is passable. Only Hugh Grant shines - he plays the role of the scoundrel with aplomb.

The only high point of the movie is the reprise of the Firth-Grant fisticuff. It is as ludicrous as the first - perhaps even better.

I saw the first Bridget Jones movie and thought it was around average. My Mum loved it, and when the DVD for Bridget Jones:The Edge Of Reason came out on DVD, she went i bought it right away. So, without much hope or agenda, I decided to watch it.

This film is absolutely AWFUL. The story bares no resemblance to the book, and the story was unbelievable. Poor acting all around. Why didn't they get the director from the first film back? She was marginally better.

Do yourself a favor, and just read the book, which is actually witty and well-written.

The problem with a sequel is that expectations are high - particularly after a film as successful and engaging as BJ1. I knew already that the new film did not adhere to the second book so I didn't expect to be making comparisons. However, this movie was frankly ridiculous.

My problem with the film in main was that the character of Bridget was over-parodied. She is not supposed to be so much fatter than everyone around her, or as scatty and ungainly as she is portrayed in the film, which makes it harder to believe that there are 2 men and a woman after her.

The first film's success was due to the protagonist being charming and endearing - she made "human" mistakes (for example, the "blue soup") and fell for an unsuitable man who cheated on her. We felt sorry for her but also felt that she was funny and kooky and wanted her to "get her man" in the end. In this new movie she is frankly annoying, and we are almost incredulous that Mark Darcy should want her at all. They have nothing in common, the reason they break up at the beginning is not believable in any way, and the reasons they reunite are just as difficult to comprehend.

I also felt that the characterisations were not as layered as in the first movie, and the stupid lesbian twist didn't seem to make any sense.

It is a shame that they were so close yet so far with this new film, because in a way it negates the success and hilarity of the first one, which was a classic, intelligent portrayal of a 30-something singleton looking for her man. BJ2 is just a badly-made slapstick about a fat, unattractive girl who looks a complete mess and doesn't seem to have any self-awareness whatsoever. Sorry to be so harsh, but with the weight of the various names attached to the film, expectations were high.......

This movie is even more disappointing than the first one. It's not helping anyone by insulting a perfectly normal weighing woman, by continually saying she's fat. She says it and so does everyone else. Which doesn't help anyone's view of what an actual healthy weight is. I googled how much Bridget Jones supposedly weighs and 130 for the height of 5'5 is perfectly acceptable and within normal BMI ranges. This is just another Hollywood hot mess that promotes false realities. What's even more insulting is that any woman would allow themselves to be so self depreciating. No wonder many women have bad body image when Hollywood plainly says even though you weigh a perfectly acceptable weight within your BMI, you're still fat. What a way to create a bunch of effed up people and to continue to promote a completely unhealthy and unrealistic view of how the world should look.