Disappointing, really...

Rating: 6/10 (15 August 2001)

I think I must have different contact lenses from the other people who've commented on this film. Either that, or I saw a different film.
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
First of all, I have to say that I found this a mildly amusing film with some good moments that made me laugh out loud.
I also have to agree that Renee Zellweger does a fantastic job playing Bridget Jones: she's plain, gawky, funny, warm, sincere, and a real twit all at the same time. That said, I confess it took me a little while to warm to her character, partly because Bridget is such a twit. I mean, she's 32 years old and she doesn't have a clue how to fix a meal for friends? She automatically assumes that first-date sex is inevitable even before a relationship begins (hence the underwear angst)? She cannot string two words together without babbling?
I guess the thing that bothers me the most about this film, though, and people's glowing reactions to it, is wondering what Bridget and Mark are going to talk about from now on. I mean, he's a top barrister with education, money, social standing, and a variety of interests, humanitarian and otherwise. Bridget, on the other hand, seems to have no interests, other than drinking, smoking, feeling sorry for herself, and catching a man. She's not intelligent, well-educated, committed to anything, or even with the prospect of being a viable, supporting housewife. At least with Daniel, cad though he clearly is, [I muse cynically here] she had fun--and so did Daniel. Fun and Darcy don't actually go in the same sentence! In the end, I thought she ended up with the wrong man.
I walked out of the movie theater a bit disappointed. I'd heard lots of good things about this film, and although it has some good moments and some funny lines, and Zellweger's acting is commendable, I thought the film just didn't live up to expectations.