Bridget Jones Baby: "This Is A Unique And Wonderful Moment"

Director: Sharon Maguire
Writer:     Helen Fielding
                Dan Mazar
                Emma Thompson
Starring: Renee Zellweger
                Colin Firth
                Patrick Dempsey
                Sally Phillips
                James Callis
                Shirley Henderson
                Gemma Jones
                Jim Broadbent
                Sarah Solemani
                Celia Imrie
                Emma Thompson
Rating:    ****

Release Date: Out Now 

Bridget is back, but she isn't quite the woman we all knew and loved. She is still quirky, still clumsy and still unlucky in love; however what she is lacking now is that relatability. She is no longer struggling with her weight, she doesn't chain smoke and drink far too much anymore, and she is working pretty succesfully at her job. Bridget is missing all of her flaws that made her...well, Bridget; and that is a real shame.

Emma Thompson & Renee Zellweger

Bridget (Zellweger) is now a producer of a news show and seemingly enjoying the single life after splitting for Mr. Mark Darcy (Firth). Her co-worker and friend Miranda (Solemani) whisks Bridget away to a festival for the weekend, where Bridget bumps into, and then "bumps into" Jack Qwant (Dempsey);  a wealthy mathmatician with a fondness for love. A small while after sleeping with Jack, Bridget soon finds herself having a drunk fling with her ex, Mark; leaving her confused and emotional. However, what comes next throws Bridget's world into a spin. She is pregnant, and doesn't know who the father is; leaving Bridget in a typically Bridget predicament.

Zellweger and Firth are able to slip back into their old roles, like a comfortable pair of shoes. It comes easy to them, and the chemsitry is still palpable between them; making their scenes together an equal measure of emotonal and nostalgic. They are surrounded by an ensemble of returning castmates, including her three best friends (Phillips, Callis & Henderson) and her unorthadox parents (Jones & Broadbent). Each returnee is clearly having fun and excited to be back on set as a group; and that energy comes acoss in their perofmances, making it feel naturally funny. It is almost like they're your friends and parents too.

Joining them for the ride is Patrick Dempsey as Jack Qwant. He is filling the rather large and suave hole left by Hugh Grant's Daniel Cleaver. That doesn't mean that the film misses him. Dempsey is a superb addition to the story, providing some cheekiness, plenty of sex appeal, and a genuinely brilliant rival for Colin FIrth to spar with. The Chemistry between the three leads is superb; obviously very different, but extremely woderful to watch.

Sarah Solemani

Providing some of the funniest moments in the film, however, are Sarah Solemani and Emma Thompson. Solemani plays Bridget's new friend and colleague with a dry and knowing wit; and acts as the blunt caring voice of reason right through. Thompson plays an extremely undertsanding doctor, and uses her superb comic timing and comedy know-how to inject her scenes with a few a winks to the audience, she's in on the joke and the audience loves that.

Overall Bridget Jones Baby is a superb sequel to Bridget Jones Diary, and is miles better than The Edge of Reason. The biggest downfall of the film is that Bridget feels less like herself this time around. She was always one of us, and I know I am not a woman, but I can still relate to many of her issues. She is too together in this film and it just felt out of place at certain points of the film. It doesn't take away too much from this terrific British comedy, but for me Bridget needs to go back to being Bridget. 

 Bridget Jones Baby - Trailer