The Cider House Rules. It's a chronicle of the romantic misadventures of a
young publishing-house publicist in her early 30s whose love life and family
life have become disasters. Armed with only wits, charm and a diary, she
goes in search of the ever-elusive Mr. Right. Unlucky in love Bridget has
two candidates; the fun and sexy Daniel (Hugh Grant) and the dour Mark Darcy
(Colin Firth), whom she overhears calling her a "verbally incontinent
spinster". Not suprisingly she goes for Daniel and when he turns out to be a
less-than-perfect catch, she turns to Mark. Of course, he is being
hooked by the man-eating lawyer Natasha, who is determined to the marry and
mold him. Meanwhile, she embarks on a new career in television news (based
on the line "I have to leave my current position because I shagged the boss)
and her parents marriage is on the rocks. Therefore, we have all the
elements for a good romantic comedy.
What helps make the movie work so well is the way Bridget's voice dominates
it. The movie echoes with her slants, laughter and whines. The voice draws
us in, and we feel strongly for our imperfect narrator. Renee Zellweger is a
surprisingly great fit for Bridget. How can this milky-complexioned Texan
play a role considered so quintessentially British that much of the British
Isles' female populace seems to identify with it? The answer is screen presence
and natural charm. With these qualities and hard work to adopt a
clipped-London accent, Zellweger gives a subperb performance and is a huge reason
why this film works. The movie makes more than one gentle nod to Jane Austen.
The casting of Colin Firth as Mark Darcey is inspired. Firth, who portrayed Mr
Darcy in the A&E production of Pride and Prejudice, plays this part exactly
as he played the earlier role. He's a repressed snob who gradually,
unwillingly find himself drawn to the least suitable woman around him. Hugh Grant brings his classic, helpless, charm to the oily role of Daniel.
Like Austen's Wickham, this guy is too good to believe and proves our
suspiscions true. Grant, like Firth, has also appeared in an Austen adaptation (Sense
and Sensibility).
Bridget Jones's Diary is filled with moments of truth and flashes of humor
(sometimes the two are the same). The energy level is consistently high and
the characters (especially Bridget) don't take long to endear themselves to the
audience. The result is worthy of exultation, especially in the bleakness of
the winter/spring cinematic landscape. I smiled at the biting one-liners,
laughed at both the subtle and the overt comedic aspects, and nodded my head in
sympathy with Bridget's all-too-familiar plight - and I'm a male. Imagine
the female reaction. It's rare today find a classic romantic comedy with witty
dialogue and charming characters that doesn't come across as overcalculated,
highly-predictabel, curdled valentine (e.g The Wedding Planner)
Review: 3 1/2 (out of 4)