Time: 125 Minutes
Age Rating: M – Offensive language & sexual references
Cast:
Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones
Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scott Walliker
Leo Woodall as Roxster McDuff
Jim Broadbent as Colin Jones
Gemma Jones as Pamela Jones
Colin Firth as Mark Darcy
Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver
Director: Michael Morris

I was surprised by how much I liked Bridget Jones’s Baby, I enjoyed it to a degree that I think it would’ve been a fine place to end the series. However there was a sequel released 9 years later (and this year), and I was surprised at how good it turned out really good, and that it’s probably my favourite of the 4 films.

The first 20 minutes of the movie really took me off guard. It establishes how much time has passed and what happened in the time since, including that Bridget Jones has two children, and Colin Firth’s character of Mark Darcy is dead. In this opening, it is very patient establishing everything and only drops the title card around 20 minutes in. With this being a Bridget Jones movie, as expected, it is a funny movie. Not all of the jokes work, but most of them do, and despite having a lot of silliness, much of the absurdism from the past few movies feels appropriately toned down here. What I wasn’t expecting was how sentimental, warm and emotional the film was. Mark’s death hangs over Mad About the Boy, and it’s a rather genuine movie about grief especially in showing how people process loss. It was surprisingly thoughtful and mature, and handled the drama and subject matters very well. Assuming that there aren’t going to be any more Bridget Jones movies made (there shouldn’t be), it is a sweet ending to the series.

Renée Zellweger is as usual great as Bridget Jones, not only landing the comedy but also the far more emotional and dramatic beats. As the two love interests of Bridget in this movie, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Leo Woodall are good. Hugh Grant gets more of a supporting role here as Daniel Cleaver, his character has gone through some offscreen growth, and he makes the most of his limited screentime.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is endearing, gentle, funny and thoughtful. It was surprisingly good, and the best of the series.