Compromises don't come much finer than this

Rating: 10/10 (18 January 2002)

I sat down to watch this film certain that it would be a horrid compromise of British humour and US influenced shmaltz. The casting of Renne Zellweger over the likes of Minnie Driver aggravated me. There's just no *need* for it. And the news that Renee had the same voice coach as Gwyneth Paltrow filled me with horror. Paltrow's English accent is very credible Standard English. The only trouble is, nobody except newsreaders speaks Standard English. Everyone - *everyone* - in the UK speaks a recognisable dialect.
And initially, Renee struck me as similar. Her accent is Standard English, except where it verges into generic over-rounded "posh". It's not a dialect, and it rings just a little false. Oh well, I thought, here we go. At least it's not Dick Van Dyke.
But to my delight, five minutes into the film, I'd (nearly) gotten over it. Because Renee *is* Bridget Jones. She looks perfect, and her mannerisms are flawless. I was won over, and quite in love, and considering that Bridget is actually not a sympathetic character, that's quite a feat.
And from there it was plain sailing, because the rest of the cast acted as though the roles were written for them. Colin Firth's role *was* written for him (in the original columns and book) in fact, and Hugh Grant's might as well have been. The support were equally as comfortable and recognisable, with only a couple of exceptions: Cosmo, who should have been more Tim Nice-But-Dim (British reference, but it's a British film) and Julian, who, to be fair was playing one of the few characters that had been changed significantly from the book.
Highlights were the scenes that were recognisable re-workings of the 1995 BBC miniseries of "Pride and Prejudice", lowlights were the slightly kludged ending that actually veers away from the Diary (and Austin) original, and the couple of Americanised scenes.
All in all, a splendid adaptation and a splendid film in its own right. The big outstanding question is: if they film the sequel, which features an interview with Colin Firth, who will they cast to play him? Enquiring minds want to know. ;-)