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  Amy
  
Jankowicz
Bridget Jones's Diary
UK, 2001
[Sharon Maguire]
Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Jim Broadbent
Romance / Comedy
  
Yes, it was worth it. Helen Fielding�s diary-style novel, constantly (and annoyingly) referred to as some kind of harbinger of post-feminism, was a jolly bestselling look at one thirty-something woman�s search for true love. And, despite all the mutterings, so is the film.

Casting Renee Zellweger, an American, in the lead role, caused all kinds of rumblings, and yet she acquits herself perfectly, and is surprisingly endearing. In fact, in the knowledge that Kate Winslet was the alternative, we can only be thankful. Zellweger is a fine comic actress, and, thank the gods, her accent was perfect.
For anyone who doesn�t know, Bridget Jones is a media type whose much-vaunted freedom years are just getting a little too� long. This is a story for anyone who has been asked, condescendingly: �How�s your love life?� when it should be perfectly apparent that there isn�t one. In a world where, if you read too many magazines, you�re supposed to be thin, independent, career-driven, and having great sex, Bridget is none of these things. She ends up with a choice: does she go for the man her mother likes or her sexy bastard of a boss? This delicious choice is made simply sumptuous thanks to the presence of Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. Rrrrraow.

Fielding�s comic style has been perfectly translated through the characters � watch out for Bridget�s awful mother � and any disciple of the book should come away happy with the adaptation. It obviously only takes essential scenes from the book, but functions perfectly well anyway. I also think that anyone who has never read the book (oh, hello, male population of Britain) wouldn�t have trouble with it either (if there�s one term I hate, it�s �chick flick�. It just seems to mean that we get stuck with all the romantic shit). In fact, seeing as the eventual message seems to be �We�ve given up feminism, darling, come back and be big and strong and open jars for us�, men should pretty much enjoy it too. 

Bridget Jones�s Diary has got the same re-watchable quality as Four Weddings and a Funeral, easy on the brain, with the obligatory New Woman-style feelgood soundtrack. Great for a night in with a pizza and a calorie-counting book.
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