Universal Pictures
Their love story may not have exactly begun as a “love at first sight” tale, but the chemistry between Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) and Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) has always been an engaging one over the years. In Bridget Jones’s Diary, we’re first introduced to the two characters when they’re disastrously set up at a New Year’s party at her parents’ house where she makes quite the wrong impression. Bridget overhears Mark telling his mother that she smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish and dresses like her mother, and he’s simply not interested in going out on a date with her no matter how they knew each other as children. (What nerve, especially when he’s in that hideous Christmas sweater!)
In Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, we found out what happens after you walk off into the sunset with Prince Charming. While it may not have been the strongest follow-up with the fans, what I liked about the sequel was that it showed a more realistic picture about what happens in a relationship long after that “happily ever after” moment that occurs when you meet and admit your feelings for each other. Who could forget that steamy kiss in the snow at the end of the first film?
Bridget: “Wait a minute … nice boys don’t kiss like that.”
Mark: “Oh yes, they fucking do.”
Swoon. It was that precise moment that I fell hard for Mark Darcy. He’d been a wonderful romantic lead prior to that of course. But then again, his competition was the smarmy Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant). In a contest between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant, there is no contest. Colin Firth is going to win my affections every time. He’s just that damn irresistible. It doesn’t hurt that he almost always plays an intelligent, sensitive man. Mark Darcy is the type of person we all hope to find for ourselves. That one person who loves you for you – including all of your wobbly bits, insecurities and awkward tendencies.
The truth is I see a lot of myself in Bridget Jones, perhaps more so now than when the first film came out in 2001. I’m now in my mid-30s. I’ve never been married – or even engaged – and I’ve never had any children. I’m quirky and awkward and have spent many a night on the couch in front of my television wondering if I’ll end up a spinster. Because I’ve always been a hopeless romantic, I root for all the Bridget Joneses of the cinematic world, and Mark was quite a catch. I fully understand her irrational thoughts about him being too perfect and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Relationships are often a slipperier slope than even the high ski slopes Bridget found herself on in that disastrous second film.
With such a perfect specimen at her hip, you may be asking yourself why on earth does Bridget end up in the situation where she doesn’t know if newcomer Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey) or Mark Darcy is the father of her unborn child in the hilarious Bridget Jones’s Baby? Well, the simplest answer is that she’s Bridget Jones and she always manages to get herself into these rather peculiar dilemmas. But that’s all part of her relatable charm, isn’t it?
In the long-awaited film which finally completes the Bridget Jones trifecta, we’re able to catch up with all of our favorite characters over a decade later: Bridget, Mark, Bridget’s friends Shazzer (Sally Phillips) and Jude (Shirley Henderson) and even Bridget’s parents (the ever-hilarious combination of Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones). And while most of you are probably thinking this is a sad sequel that didn’t need to be made in the endless Hollywood churning of unnecessary sequels, prequels and remakes, I found myself feeling satisfied that it was. It brings the characters’ story arcs full-circle. No, it isn’t the strongest film of the trilogy (though it’s better than the second). But it doesn’t need or even pretend to be. What it successfully does is make their love story feel more complete and believable.
In Bridget Jones’s Baby, Bridget has finally achieved her ideal weight and has moved up in the ranks of televised news programs. She’s a successful career woman in her early 40s surrounded by up-and-coming bearded hipsters now. Sadly, her romance with Mark Darcy is far behind her because they were never quite able to make it work largely because Mark is such a workaholic lawyer and Bridget often felt ignored and neglected. It seems wisdom comes partially with age. Bridget’s looking forward to making new mistakes instead of making the same ones all over again.
After spending her 43rd birthday depressingly alone, Bridget decides to attend a large music festival with her new, much younger and more liberal work BFF Miranda (Sarah Solemani), which leads to a sexy one-night stand with Jack. Jack turns out to be an American mogul in the ever-expanding world of logarithms and online dating, but of course she doesn’t know this at the time. (Also watch for a great cameo by the musician Ed Sheeran during the festival.)
But … because she’s Bridget and she’s never fully gotten over Mark, she ends up having a sexy one-night stand with him about a week later when they run into each other at a mutual friend’s christening party. Then pregnancy sets in and poor Bridget doesn’t know which man is the father, so she tells them both. Predictably, both slowly get attached to the idea of fatherhood and being there for her and the unborn child.
There are some rather tender moments in this film, such as when Bridget sees her unborn child on the monitor for the first time (it almost makes me want to have a baby). There’s another particularly good scene in which the ever-charming Dempsey brings Bridget take-out food from what should have been their second date, along with Swedish furniture for once they would’ve gotten serious and flowers for after their first fight – basically, he’s cramming an entire relationship into one date but it works in a way that only he could make it work. And you instantly see Bridget’s dilemma. Should she allow herself to fall in love with this new beau or try to make it work with the previous beau that she’s never been able to make it work with before? Not to mention, will either man fully love the child if it’s proven to not be his?
I won’t ruin the ending for you by revealing which man is the father of Bridget’s baby. You’ll just have to venture down that road for yourself if you’re curious to see how her love story ends. But I promise you it’s a satisfying road if you’re a fan of this franchise. Also watch for Emma Thompson (who’s also one of the screenplay writers) stealing virtually every scene she’s in as Bridget’s doctor. And yes, you’ll also find out what happened to the infamous Daniel Cleaver.
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