How Disappointing

Rating: 4/10 (1 December 2001)

I thought that after all the good words I'd heard about BJD, it would be a safe-bet rental. I was wrong. This was a first for me; my first DVD in which I had no desire to check out any of the extras on the disk. Indeed, I found myself calculating the remaining time during the last half of the film.
Renee Zelwegger was fine, but the role was demeaning and sitcom-like.
(spoiler) Typical is when she arrives at what she believes will be a costume party, only to find everyone dressed. Not only does everyone look at her with their noses in the air (curious, since they were all told last minute that the 'tarts' theme was off), she does not explain, and does not pull off the bunny head and tail.
Colin Firth is supposedly the good guy, the one we want her to end up with, but he goes around pouting and angry and miserable and bitter through most of the film. Really endearing.
Hugh Grant is good, but (spoler2) his betrayal of her is so formulaic. Yawn. The fistfight scene with Firth is embarrassingly bad and could have been written by any 1st year film student.
Is this what we've come to? This is what's passing as great entertainment? I should have known better. I ignored my own rule: "Any film showing up on multiple shelves at Blockbuster can't be any good." 3.5/10