Every so often, I see a film at the cinema where the
audience totally gets involved with whatever they’re watching. More than just laughing along with the jokes,
these are the films where there are audible gasps, cheers, applause and
occasional heckles. More often than not,
the thing that seems to provoke this response is a particular character/set of
characters, a familiarity and affinity with them.
Last night’s viewing – Bridget
Jones’s Baby - was one of those
films.
It’s been 15 years since the first Bridget Jones film, and
12 years since we saw her last in Bridget
Jones: the Edge of Reason. A lot
hasn’t changed – she’s still in the same flat, still with the same friends,
still with some of the same work colleagues (but with the welcome addition of
Sarah Solemani and Joanna Scanlon), still has no clear concept of grocery
shopping (her fridge contains one mouldy lemon and a packet of thyme), still
under the same passive pressure from her mother to get married and have babies.
 |
| Learn to shop, woman! |
But a lot has changed too, for better and worse. She’s now 43, a successful television
producer, and a lot more comfortable in her own skin. She’s happier with her weight – in fact,
short of one brief mention of it at the start of the film, I can’t recall any
further discussion of it. No enormous
pants or fighting with Spanx in this film.
Her friends have also grown up – the nights of downing shots and
experimental cooking have been replaced by a series of last minute text
messages bailing on plans (“the sitter’s cancelled”, “the baby’s sick”) – but there
is a conscious effort to maintain those friendships. Shazzer, Magda, Jude and Tom are still in
touch on a regular basis for updates and advice, but the main meeting places
are the important life events – births, christenings, weddings and funerals.
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| Who are these people who have cupcakes on a plate? |
Significantly, for Bridget, she is single again. The relationship with Mark ended due to work
pressures, and too many nights alone. That
said, Bridget in her 40s is not sitting at home pining for a man and a
relationship. She’s taking active control
of her life and trying new things with Miranda (Solemani). This leads to one pregnant Bridget, and two
potential fathers – Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey) or Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). This becomes an interesting storyline – not
the storyline of Bridget trying to hide the truth from both of them and hoping
the other doesn’t find out, but Bridget laying all her cards on the table and
dealing with the consequences, even if those consequences are that she brings
the baby up herself.
 |
| Pretty much no other reference to giant pants in this film. |
Well, that’s almost it.
For me, this is a weak spot, and a substantial one at that. The film takes great pains to state that both men
would love Bridget, and would be excellent fathers for the baby. Both men proffer to raise the child (even if
it transpires that the baby is not theirs).
Bridget cannot choose between them.
And in the end…she doesn’t. And
this is a shame because Bridget has been a stronger, more mature, decisive
character in this film, but then allows the films conclusion to kind of
passively happen to her. There aren’t
really many consequences as a result, and the film is poorer for it, especially
as this character has such form for making active decisions – this is the same
Bridget who actively rejects Daniel Cleaver because she knew she could do
better, tracks Mark Darcy down to make public declarations of love, and tells
her boss to stick his job. Bridget has
always spoken her mind (clumsily, unadvisedly, bluntly) – such impassiveness on
her part seems sadly uncharacteristic.
A second bugbear is the storyline of Bridget’s mum running for parish council, but having to learn that that means she will have to accept gay couples, unwed mothers, immigrants and Italians. This storyline was pointless, patronising and cack-handed. But again, could have been something better.
However, all things considered, I still really enjoyed this
film. And so did the cinema audience I
saw it with, who cheered, whooped and laughed in equal measures. Rightly so – there’s a lot to like. Emma Thompson shamelessly steals every scene
she’s in, and as one of the co-writers steals a lot of the good lines (I feel
that her character has a whole other back story going on – anyone else think
that?). Bridget’s friends and family are
all back, and familiar versions of themselves.
There’s a lot of big laughs to be had – v. good.
Welcome back Bridget.
I’ve missed you.
Additional bonus thought!
Two random thoughts that occurred:
- It was refreshing to see characters who have aged. Bridget and her contemporaries are now in their 40s and they look like they are. There’s grey hair, wrinkles, age spots and paunches. Bridget looks pretty authentically scruffy when she’s slobbing about her flat in her PJs. Even the younger cast (by which I mean Sarah Solemani again) acknowledge that in order to be the presentable face of youth, it comes with effort, primping, and having your upper lip waxed – the way people look on screen is not “real life”.
- Has the rom-com died? I wondered this last year when I watched Man Up, which felt like it belonged firmly in the 90s. Bridget Jones’s Baby feels contemporary (probably because it’s drawing on the progress of pre-established characters), but there haven’t been many rom-coms on at cinemas lately. Where did the rom-com go?
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