(2004) The sequel to Bridget Jones's Diary (not much evidence of Jane Austen this time nor of her diary, and as with most sequels and second loves this one doesn't kiss and tell as well as the original, though once again the song selections capture the musical moments) begins four weeks after the conclusion of the original film (though director Beeban Kidron's movie appeared three years later) with Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) on her way again to her mother's turkey-curry buffet where both she and Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) have on silly jumpers.

To "The Sound of Music" Bridget announces: "I have found my happy ending at last" with her "sex god and human-rights lawyer" of a boyfriend, who likes her just the way she is, including her wobbly bits; over a speakerphone while Mark is in a conference with the ambassador from Mexico she proclaims that he has a "genuinely gorgeous bottom."

However, as this is just the opening of the movie, one must expect things to come down from the heights - as a serious journalist she explores the sport of skydiving (in the air on the air) by landing in a pigs' sty.

Bridget's three friends - Jude (Shirley Henderson), Shazzer (Sally Phillips), and Tom (James Callis) - after having urged her to find a beau, suddenly adviser her to dump Mark. "It's all about confidence and trust," she tells herself. A new member of the group, Janey Osborne, claims to have seen the vivacious 22-year-old Rebecca Gillies (Jacinda Barrett) entering Mark's residence, sending Bridget off to spy on them. Afterward she concludes she has stupid friends and a loyal boyfriend.

She begins imagining marriage to Mark and becoming the mother of his children, but first she must navigate her way through the Law Council Dinner, wearing a girdle ("scary knickers") and bad hair. During a conversation, out of her mouth comes "balding upper-middle-class twits" among people who are for the most part balding upper-middle-class twits, to which Mark, generous with her faults, tactfully says: "You seem to have made quite an impression."

When she misses the final question of the evening's quiz to Rebecca's response - "What was Madonna's first single?" by answering "Lucky Star" instead of "Holiday" (both were released in 1983 with the latter being her first "hit" single and third single recording, but "Everybody" in 1982 was actually her first single) - and then calls Mark "an arrogant ass" among people she can never feel comfortable around, she goes home, calls him, leaving a conciliatory message on his answering machine while he buzzes her apartment, asking to be allowed in. She hands him the key to her door and heart.

Geographically and athletically challenged, she agrees to accompanying Mark on a romantic mini-break skiing (similar to her skydiving jump) experience in a country east of France, during which she suspects she may be pregnant, at the end of which their relationship suffers "a fatal incompatibility." Becoming her own worst enemy, Bridget criticizes Mark for being incapable of spontaneity and then suspects him of having an affair with Rebecca to which he says: "I won't dignify that with an answer."

After their splitting up, she begins a relationship with a pair of boyfriends, Ben and Jerry (ice cream). Meanwhile, the clever and deceitfully sexist Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), who says he hates watching TV but enjoys be on the tube, has left publishing for television, hosting a travel program, Smooth Guide. Bridget ("a boorish bint in a bikini"?) and Daniel get assigned together to produce a segment about Thailand - she covers cuisine while he gets a full-body massage.

After a magic moment with mushrooms, Bridget must confront the choice of "to shag or not to shag" with Daniel. Shazzer, who has tagged along, gets involved with Jed, a young Thai who's involved with drugs. Through no fault of her own, Bridget gets caught with cocaine in her luggage and sent to jail (where she's called "Beeshit Jone," trades her red bra for cigarettes, and teaches the other incarcerated females how to sing Madonna's "Like a Virgin") for the next ten to twenty years.

Of course, that's not the ending since this is a comedy with romance.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2008 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Patrick Ivers can be reached via e-mail at .