Director: Michael Morris
Writers: Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer, Abi Morgan, based on the book by Helen Fielding
Cast: Renée Zellweger, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Hugh Grant, Mila Jankovic, Casper Knopf, Colin Firth, Sally Phillips, James Callis, Shirley Henderson, Gemma Jones, Jim Broadbent

When you think of films, particularly franchises, that are quintessentially British, most will immediately think of the likes of James Bond and Harry Potter or anything to do with Shakespeare, Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes. But one that ought to be quite at the top of the list is Bridget Jones. An institution of British rom-coms since 2001 (or 1996 if you include the books), Bridget has been a representation of the “average” (using the term loosely) woman in the decades since, the character being updated (somewhat) as times change and as generations grow and move on in life, yet always managing to remain ever so Bridget. The previous three films have been hugely popular, if not always critically acclaimed, and have set their own trend. Does Mad About the Boy follow that same trend, or have we gone one Bridge too far?

Around ten years after Bridget Jones’s Baby and four years after the death of her husband Mark (Firth), Bridget (Zellweger) is somewhere in her late forties/early fifties and widowed with two children. She’s feeling the pressure to get back out into the world, both in career and her romantic life. She soon meets 29-year-old Roxster (Woodall), engaging in some fun and intimate dates. She also grows closer to Scott, aka Mr. Walliker (Ejiofor), a new science teacher at her kids’ school. As Bridget tries to navigate motherhood, her life and her grief, she relies on her friends and family to get her through, including one Daniel Cleaver (Grant), as well as her ever-present, larger-than-life personality.

If there’s one thing that the Jones franchise has managed to keep steady with over the years, it’s keeping Bridget the same character we love, but portraying her in as real a way as possible (with some leeway because, after all, it’s a movie and needs to be entertaining) and moving her with the times. Not entirely gone are the fat jokes and need of a relationship to obtain fulfilment (you can take the Gen Xer out of the 90s…), but Bridget does continue to deal with relatable and often age-appropriate subject matter, with death, grief and motherhood being particularly poignant in Mad About the Boy. I personally shed a tear or two (I may be around fifteen years younger than Bridget and childless, but there’s still a lot to relate to) and laughed at a few moments and some of the familiar dialogue and enjoyed the nods to previous films. Although her life has moved on, in good ways and sad, Bridget remains mostly the same, and watching this film felt like a comfort blanket. It’s little wonder it reportedly had the highest grossing opening weekend for a rom-com in the UK (beating its own predecessor, The Edge of Reason).

None of the success of the franchise, nor the enjoyability of this film, could be possible without Renée Zellweger. Of course, the writers had a lot of do with keeping Bridget on track as herself while growing her up, but Zellweger puts the life into her that makes her so damn loveable and relatable. The young actors portraying her children were wonderful and had great chemistry with their onscreen mum, and having Sally Phillips, James Callis and Shirley Henderson back together with Zellweger is always a cherry on top. It was grossly sad to not have Colin Firth in it as much, obviously due to Mark’s death in the film, but the minimal scenes he has are deeply emotional. On the flip side, it was weirdly great having Hugh Grant back as Daniel “dirty bitch” Cleaver, and not only that but adding just a pinch more depth to him (a pinch, mind you), becoming quite the friend to Bridget and her kids. It was a little strange to see Bridget hooking up with a younger man, but Zellweger’s chemistry with Leo Woodall was strong enough to make it believable. In fact, their chemistry was probably a little better than that between Zellweger and Chiwetel Ejiofor, though his science teacher character was lovable in his own child-loving bachelor way.

Many years ago, I read Bridget Jones’s Diary, but it wasn’t really for me (I’m not sure if it was an age thing or I didn’t really get on board with the diary style of writing). However, the movies have since brought me much joy and comfort, and that now includes Mad About the Boy. If, for any reason, there was to be a fifth Bridget Jones film (mother of teens? Grandma Bridget!?), I pray she continues to be the same ol’ Bridge that we’ve come to treasure. It would be sad to lose certain characters along the way, most likely, but that has become part of the franchise’s charm: doing life and doing it right. Personally, I wouldn’t even be against an early-years-style television show, but I believe there’s room for even just one more big screen outing. The writers and Zellweger have done an amazing job over the past twenty-five years of keeping Bridget full of life, and it’s been a delight to grow alongside her because, after all, we like her, just as she is.