The opening hour of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy takes its sweet time—way too much of it, in fact. We meet Bridget several years after Bridget Jones’s Baby, where she and Mark had a son and got hitched. In Mad About the Boy, Bridget has become a widow and single parent to Billy and his younger sister, Mabel, after Mark died while on a humanitarian trip four years prior.
This new reality forces us to see a more mature side to Bridget, which isn’t unwelcome, but the first half of the film really drags. The extensive set-up feels so flat that it doesn’t even feel like a Bridget Jones film until our beloved heroine gets stuck in a tree, reminiscent of the original film’s iconic fire pole scene. We watch Bridget as she returns to work and the dating scene. Her fling with the much younger Roxster (Leo Woodall) has some sweet and funny high points, although apart from the comical splash of a pool dive, it lacks the oomph to keep us truly engaged.
I braced myself for clichéd chit-chat about menopause, Botox and dating apps. Mad About the Boy inevitably went into these areas, complete with a hysterically funny scene where Bridget dabbles in cosmetic surgery. Yet, it was anything but stale, especially as she manages to continually mortify herself in front of the ever-present school mums and her son’s whistle-happy science teacher, Mr Scott Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor). The Bridget Jones movies have a great way of giving the audience a playful nudge while splashing in rom-com tropes, and thankfully, this one was no different.
It’s at this point that the film finds its rhythm. There’s no doubt that Bridget is at her best when she’s a loveable mess, stumbling over herself and putting her foot in it at every turn. She may have matured into motherhood, but she’s still that same wonderfully awkward woman making blue soup all those years ago. You can’t help but root for Zellweger’s Bridget, with her eyes radiating both fragility and a spirited determination, which is why we’re here four films later. While we meet new characters like the aforementioned sweet Roxster and grounded Mr Wallaker, several familiar faces rejoin the cast. Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) is his usual smarmy self, Dr Rawlings delights with her no-nonsense attitude (thank you, Emma Thompson), and her dynamic trio of best friends, Shazzer, Jude, and Tom (played by Sally Phillips, Shirley Henderson, and James Callis) are back on board.
Once the story gets going, we are treated to heartwarming moments featuring Bridget‘s kids, particularly between her son Billy and his science teacher, Mr Wallaker. Ejiofor brings his A-game with a mix of genuine charm and just the right amount of stuffiness- making him the ideal counterpart to Bridget‘s delightful disarray. It’s a case of sensible charm meets chaotic charm, but with more warmth and realistic compatibility than Bridget and Mark (sorry Mark, RIP.)
I suspect the title was a clever bait-and-switch, making us think the ‘boy’ in Mad About the Boy is Roxster, Bridget‘s super young love interest, when actually it’s her son who is grappling with losing his dad, leading her to Mr Wallaker, with some beautiful scenes along the way.
Reflecting on the sluggish start, I think that if we’d gotten a better glimpse of Bridget and Mark’s happily-ever-after phase, we might have felt more emotionally connected during the initial slow pace. Considering their rocky relationship in the earlier films, it’s hard to picture them as happily married for years. Although no one wants to watch two hours of perfect marital bliss, more meaningful flashbacks instead of fleeting ghost appearances could have better orientated us to the present.
The slow beginning likely caters to devoted fans who could experience emotional whiplash seeing Bridget dive into dating minutes after they learn Darcy is dead. But whether you’re a Bridgethead, a complete newcomer to the franchise, or believe Bridget Jones’s Diary should have been the end of it, this sweet and funny flick will warm your heart like blue-string tinged soup. Some of us just have to be patient for the magic to kick in first.
8/10
