Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Directed by Michael Morris
Written by Helen Fielding and Dan Mazer and Abi Morgan
Starring Renée Zellweger, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, and Hugh Grant
Rated R
Runtime: 2 hours, 4 minutes
Now streaming on Peacock

by Megan Robinson, Staff Writer

When we last saw Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger), times weren’t as different as we imagine. 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby (dir. Sharon Maguire) was released just before a major election across the pond over in the US, during a time of political upheaval and eventual chaos where a massive cultural shift was beginning to take place. Likewise, Michael Morris’s newest addition to the franchise, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, has arrived at the beginning of the newest wave of fascism and the midst of an ever-present global health crisis—not one pandemic but several growing in tandem. This sounds like the strangest way to begin a review about the fourth film in a franchise of slightly ridiculous and perfectly fluffy romantic comedy films, but this entry is different. While Bridget Jones as a series has always prided itself as being a relatable fantasy for millions of women around the world, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy amps up the wish fulfillment while tackling the heavier subject matter of grief—both to its benefit and its detriment.

Bridget Jones is now a widowed mother of two irreverent children, all running wild in the chaotic home her husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), has sadly left behind. Though one love interest has passed away, another, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), has returned from a stunt faking his own death in the last film and remains as one of Bridget’s many close friends. She has a wide support system, though each suggests varied solutions to end the grief of 4 years and finally accept Mark’s death—focus on the children, go back to work, have sex, swear off sex, and on and on. After a cringeful dinner party that mirrors a scene from the first film, Bridget decides she needs to get her life back on track; going back to her job and getting a nanny are a good start, but discovering two gorgeous men, college student Roxster (Leo Woodall) and elementary school teacher Mr. Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor), kicks things into high gear.

Of all the Bridget Jones sequels, this one feels the most like a retread of the first film’s plot. It has plenty of textural differences, with a slightly different cast of characters rounding out Bridget’s life that return from Bridget Jones’s Baby, but the basic structure is there. Woodall and Ejiofor are decent picks to fill the love-interest sized holes in this film, and each feel like kind and even sensual additions to the world of this franchise. The characters, however, lack the roughness and flaws we’ve come to expect from the men of these films. Bridget and Mark were not exactly a love-at-first-sight, match-made-in-heaven pair in the first film; they both had a wicked distaste for the other during that fateful Turkey Curry Buffet that needed to be overcome by the film’s end. Here, flimsy excuses fill the void of actual flaws so that breakups and drama can occur, keeping these new characters a bit two-dimensional by comparison.

Likewise, the humor of past films is a tad absent, with this film choosing instead to go a more tepid route with more verbal jokes than slapstick or cringe comedy. Tonally, it nails it; this is a film that is heavy with the weight of grief, which might seem like an odd change for the franchise but feels necessary as these characters age along with the audience. Helen Fielding, along with fellow screenwriters Dan Mazer and Abi Morgan, adapt the 2013 novel of the same name with the new context of the ever-present grief we all seem to share thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. It feels intentional that this novel was adapted now and that Bridget Jones’s Baby was an original creation for the screen; all grief feels heavier after our own experiences with an illness that rages on, and many of the films coming out in the past few years are a direct response to that. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy doesn’t let us forget about Mark, but it doesn’t shy away from suggesting that a new life is in store for Bridget and her family.

Everyone is on their A-game here, the supporting cast in particular shining. The return of Hugh Grant is a blessing—no one else can be so sleazy and self-deprecating while maintaining an endearing charm like him. Just as well, Emma Thompson returns as Bridget’s OB/GYN Dr. Rawlings, sprinkling in some blunt humor in just the right spots. And, of course, there’s Zellweger back as our titular character, who never misses a beat in her transformation from Texan to Brit in each film. The quieter humor of the film suits her well, as she makes every awkward situation pitch-perfect with British politeness and the courage to be a bit embarrassing. She has good chemistry with both Woodall and Ejiofor, maintaining a sweetness and slight insecurity that plays off their characters well. While Woodall is confident and kind, Ejiofor is stringent but gentle, giving the audience plenty to fantasize about long after the film ends. Ejiofor is, however, a tad underutilized as a romantic lead; his charm and smooth voice make him a great fit for romance, but Mr. Wallaker and Bridget feel more like acquaintances than love interests with good chemistry until the last third of the film.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is the perfect film for fans of the original. Everyone that audiences have grown to love are back, even if their characters have passed away; the romances are a bit fantastical but still hit all the right beats; and Bridget is herself, just as we’ve always wanted her to be. As a fan, I could be considered too attached to be objective in this review, but let it be known the film is not perfect. The story is a bit of a rehash, without the weighty conflict or rough texture needed to feel like there are true stakes at hand. It is a tad flimsy in execution, juggling more and more characters while struggling to create new drama, but it’s still Bridget Jones at its core. As far as fluff goes, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is easy to snuggle up to, with a bit more weight to it than most other fluff films can claim to have.

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