Bridget Jones's Baby

Starring: Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Patrick Dempsey, Gemma Jones, Jim Broadbent, Sally Phillips, Ed Sheeran, Emma Thompson
Directed by: Sharon Maguire
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Romance
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is excited and scared when she learns she's pregnant, but doesn't know if the baby is Mark's (Colin Firth) or a handsome American's (Patrick Dempsey).

Review:

Tim: I enjoyed both Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, so I was looking forward to the film to round out the trilogy. I knew the 12 year gap between the second and third film was a bit of a crap shoot and could go either way. While there's still fun moments in this film, the long layoff hurts this movie. Bridget Jones's Baby is the worst film of the franchise.

Now, if you're a diehard fan of Bridget Jones, there's probably enough here to make you happy. It's genuinely fun to check in on this character over a decade later. I hate to comment on people's appearances, but Rene Zellweger looks so fundamentally different, it was a little jarring for me to watch her here. Still, it's great to see her slip into this character again. As you might expect, Bridget is going to get into a whole series of awkward and funny misadventures. The basic tone and feel of the film is the same and it's fun to revisit these characters again. It was a little sad losing Hugh Grant for this film, but Patrick Dempsey was a brilliant replacement for him.

Zellweger generally does a good job here. It felt like her performance was forced at times, but for the most part, she embraces the awkward side and does this character justice. Colin Firth has come a long way since the last film, so it felt like he was walking through this role a bit. It was almost like a comfortable pair of jeans that you can slip into without too much thought. Patrick Dempsey as the newcomer brings some great energy to the film. I really enjoyed his performance here. Emma Thompson is mostly wasted in a small role, although she does get a few nice lines in. The cast as a whole is solid.

The story itself is exactly what you'd expect from this film- Bridget gets pregnant and doesn't know who the father is. It's a simple, straightforward story, but it allows ample room for Bridget's awkwardness to emerge. There's definitely some humorous situations throughout the film.

I guess part of the reason I struggled with this movie is that it felt like an appropriate sequel to come out a few years after the last one. Now that twelve years has passed, the movie feels a little out of place. Why bother checking in with this character? Did this film have something fundamentally new to tell us? Not really. Sure, we see a woman a decade later, struggling with different things than in her younger days. That part of the film was enjoyable. It still felt like this movie was too little, too late. Why should we care about this character now? The movie wasn't quite funny or entertaining enough to do itself justice. If you're going to do another movie in a likeable franchise twelve years later, you kind of need to do more than just go through the motions. Remember, I enjoyed both the first and second movie. In 2004, in my review for The Edge of Reason, I said I wouldn't mind another film (as long as it was done well). It took a long time for me to get that third film, and it just felt a little too rote, a little too generic.

Now look, I'm being a bit hard on this movie. Truly, it's kind of amazing that a film twelve years later could be fairly close to the quality of the previous two. I was disappointed because I wanted to like this movie more, but for some perspective, this film gets somewhat close. With a little more humor, a little more pulling the heartstrings, this film could have been better. Still, fans of the franchise will enjoy seeing this character again and that makes this film worth it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason