Not quite the book, but as good as

Rating: 9/10 (25 November 2005)

It pains me to admit, as a huge fan of Pride and Prejudice, that - in spite of reading Bridget Jones's Diary numerous times and repeated viewings of the film - I didn't actually notice that the storyline was based on Jane Austen's famous novel. Even before I realised this, and perhaps more so now that I have, I love this film.
I heard that - while getting into character for Bridget - Renee Zellweger worked undercover at a publishers in Britain without anyone realising that she was in fact American, and having watched Bridget Jones's Diary I can completely understand why. If I didn't know it, I would certainly never have said she was an American.
There are a lot of subtle bits in this film that I like, as well as some of the less subtle bits. Look carefully at any scene in Bridget's flat and you'll see what I mean. Cans of Sprite, videos and packets of Silk Cut are dotted all over the living room. There is stuff all over her bathroom, which does make a big impact in one particular scene where she sits in the bath crying and the camera zooms out so that we see that she has hung her tights up to dry on the shower curtain rail above her. There's something about this very subtle scene that seems to express all the sadness she is feeling at the time.
As someone who - like Bridget - is always trying to look elegant (or even - dare I say it? - glamorous) and never seems to quite pull it off, I really appreciate those bits of the film where she tries to look good - dressed up in the manner of a Grace Kelly-type film star as she leaves for a mini-break - and ends up looking like she's been dragged through a hedge backwards. The see-through top scene is classic, and I love the very brief shot where she's off to a book launch and we see her trying to rearrange her granny knickers as she walks.
Although, like most people, I cringe for Bridget when she arrives in costume at her parents' friends' home expecting a Tarts and Vicars party that never really happens, what I really love about this bit is when Bridget and her dad are sharing a cigarette together. It says so much about their relationship with Mrs. Jones, Bridget's mum, and really reminded me of times when my friends decided to take up smoking as teenagers but always did it in places where their parents wouldn't catch them.
Something I like about the love interest aspect of the film is again to do with the subtlety of how it begins. Just a look between Mark and Daniel is enough to indicate their hatred for each other. Daniel's character is very much like Wickham in Pride and Prejudice - there are hints that he is not what he seems right from the start - but Bridget, like Elizabeth Bennet, quite naturally misses them.