Load of tripe

Rating: 1/10 (24 April 2001)

*warning, some spoilers*
I wanted to like this movie. I really did. However, the script makes doing so exceedingly difficult. Firstly, Renee Zellwegger has a nice English accent, yet I was put off by the idea of weight. She looks incredibly plump, yet we're expected to believe she's a "whopping" 131 lbs. Whopping? Since when was that a lot? Wasn't there just a People article describing Charlize Theron's 125 lb. frame? Not very realistic. And people wonder about the rising eating disorder rate, when a size 4 is considered 'plump'.
The story itself was sickening. Alright, so Bridget makes a bonehead mistake by having an affair with her sleazy boss; I admit, I cheered her on when she wised up, yet the other leading male, Mark Darcy (played emotionally-dead by Colin Firth) made me snort. He's arrogant, rude, and puts Bridget down so much, yet she ultimately jumps from one sleazeball to another. So what does Bridget learn? That someone loves her "just the way she is" (except when he calls her a foolish idiot, among other unpleasantries)? What am I supposed to do? Congratulate Bridget on this?
If you want to see a great movie about switching one's life around and standing up for oneself, watch "American Beauty". Kevin Spacey breathed so much more life into Lester Burnham, and he didn't take crap from his wife or anybody by the film's end.