Directed by Michael Morris — Screenplay by Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer, and Abi Morgan.
Based on the Helen Fielding novel of the same name and, obviously named after the iconic song, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy finds Bridget Jones (still played by Renée Zellweger) at a particularly challenging moment in her life. Her husband, Mark Darcy (played by Colin Firth), has passed away, and she and their two children now struggle with grief in their own ways. At the same time, though, so many people around her are suggesting that Bridget should get back out there and date again. Back on the market, she develops a surprising romantic connection with a much younger man (played by Leo Woodall), while she also gradually grows closer to a schoolteacher (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor).
Mad About the Boy is the latest entry in what is arguably Britain’s most popular rom-com film series (do note that I said ‘series,’ as there are many more popular one-off rom-com films such as Notting Hill). It follows up on the life journey of its titular heroine after two relatively disappointing sequels (2004’s The Edge of Reason and 2016’s Baby). Still, this latest entry, thankfully, gets the film series back on track. There is a maturity to the sequel and a genuine emotional core (with a focus on family grief) that works a lot better than you’d expect given the quality of the previous sequels.
Although a significant step up from the previous sequels, there are still some things that don’t fully live up to their potential. For one, though the romance is often delightful in large part due to Chiwetel Ejiofor being a good match for the genre, it must be said that the eventual romantic outcome here is always obvious. Similarly, the central character arcs feel inevitable and have no real surprises. The film also flirts with actually discussing age-gap gender expectations and such a discrepancy, but it never pokes through the superficial layer, as the younger partner played by Leo Woodall is not really a fully formed character but more of an object of obsession meant to fill a role, as someone to ogle at and obsess over. There’s very little to him.
Nonetheless, this sequel really works. As mentioned, Chiwetel Ejiofor is one of the primary reasons why, but it also helps that Zellweger is all-in, while Hugh Grant is back in his part and, in being so, turns in a genuinely memorable and fun performance (you always want more of him), though parts of his subplot feel cliched. Furthermore, Emma Thompson and Colin Firth (the latter mostly in spectral or imagined form) also make impactful appearances. It being genuinely impactful and affecting is also one of the chief reasons why this film connects with you. It tugs at your heartstrings effectively and deals with mature themes in ways that you may not expect these films to be able to do given the slightness of the previous sequels. It makes for a strong end to the film series if they choose to now close the book on the diary after having turned the titular character into a rom-com icon 24 years ago.
7 out of 10
– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 