Worth seeing for Zellweger

Rating: 8/10 (30 April 2001)

Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is 32, a Londoner, and panicking about being single. She falls for her cold, commitment-phobic boss (Hugh Grant) and finds herself somewhat attracted to tall, handsome, arrogant Darcy (Colin Firth). Who should she go with? Three guesses. Predictable storyline overcome by a sharp script, fun soundtrack and a VERY energetic performance by Zellweger. It's her film all the way and she's just fantastic. She fakes a British accent to perfection and carries the whole movie on her shoulders. Also it's interesting to see Hugh Grant play a total jerk and do a very good job of it--he's played the innocent, bumbling Englishman way too often. However, there are two very bad performances--James Callis as Bridgets' gay best friend Tom. The guy is so obviously straight I didn't believe him for one second--but he's a minor character so it really didn't hurt the film. What did was Colin Firth's performance. He's tall, he's handsome, he's WOODEN! He always has a frown on his face and is SO serious...you wonder what Bridget sees in him. It's surprising because Firth is a good actor...just not this time around. So it's worth seeing for Zellweger...this might be the film that makes her a well-deserved star. A perfect date movie.