Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

A British woman is determined to improve herself while she looks for love in a year in which she keeps a personal diary.

Director:

Sharon Maguire

Writers:

Helen Fielding (novel), Helen Fielding (screenplay),

Stars:

Renée Zellweger, Gemma Jones, Colin Firth

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins & 30 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Renée Zellweger	...	Bridget Jones
Gemma Jones	...	Bridget's Mum
Celia Imrie	...	Una Alconbury
James Faulkner	...	Uncle Geoffrey
Jim Broadbent	...	Bridget's Dad
Colin Firth	...	Mark Darcy
Charmian May	...	Mrs. Darcy
Hugh Grant	...	Daniel Cleaver
Paul Brooke	...	Mr. Fitzherbert
Felicity Montagu	...	Perpetua
Shirley Henderson	...	Jude
Sally Phillips	...	Shazza
James Callis	...	Tom
Charlie Caine	...	Handsome Stranger
Gareth Marks	...	Simon in Marketing

Storyline

Bridget Jones is an average woman struggling against her age, her weight, her job, her lack of a man, and her many imperfections. As a New Year's Resolution, Bridget decides to take control of her life, starting by keeping a diary in which she will always tell the complete truth. The fireworks begin when her charming though disreputable boss takes an interest in the quirky Miss Jones. Thrown into the mix are Bridget's band of slightly eccentric friends and a rather disagreeable acquaintance who Bridget cannot seem to stop running into or help finding quietly attractive.

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Plot Keywords:

boss | diary | love | single | friend | 

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Taglines:

Aloof. Unavailable. Ice queen. - Aloof. Unavailable. Ice queen. - Aloof. Unavailable. Ice queen. - (quite fancy a snog though...)

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some strong sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA UK Ireland France

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 April 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

El diario de Bridget Jones

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$2,140,040 (Italy) (19 October 2001)

Gross:

$149,761,366 (Europe) (30 November 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax Films, Universal Pictures, StudioCanal

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First cinema feature of James Callis.

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Goofs

During the fight between Mark and David go through the window. In the shots of the glass the writing drastically changes.

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Quotes

Pam Jones: Up close, he was almost purple.

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Crazy Credits

During the end credits, we see footage of a home movie taken during a birthday party, which also happens to be the birthday party that both Bridget and Mark are at that is referred to several times during the movie.

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Connections

Featured in 20 to 1: Scene-Stealing Songs (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Someone Like You"
Written by Van Morrison (as Morrison)
Performed by Van Morrison
Courtesy of Exile Productions/Polydor Limited

User Reviews

Corny but cute

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.)

What really makes this movie stand out from a venerable list of other working girl fantasies is the familiar but one-of-a-kind personality of the irrepressible Bridget Jones. Created by novelist Helen Fielding, who also wrote the script, and brought to life by the talented and zany Renée Zellweger, Bridget Jones is a 32-year-old pleasingly plump London working girl, a "...verbally incontinent spinster who...dresses like her mother" (to quote Colin Firth's character, Mark Darcy). She is also clumsy, the kind of girl who might spill sauce on her blouse, a little overweight, smokes, drinks too much and sometimes says what she thinks without consulting her brain. She is also very good at improvising on the spot, a talent that charms not only the two leading men, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, who vie for her affection, but also the five o'clock news audience who like her bum and knickers just fine.

Director Sharon Maguire, in her first outing, combines Brit witticisms, slapstick pratfalls, raunchy, sharp and realistic dialogue, and a blatant but inoffensive sentimentality into a romantic comedy that surely has Nora Ephron and Julia Roberts paying close attention. She keeps us guessing about who will get the girl (and who really deserves the girl) with the usual misdirections and misunderstandings characteristic of the genre. There's a little dead time about half way in, and the uncertainty about whether Bridget wants Hugh Grant or Colin Firth is milked a bit overmuch, otherwise this is nicely paced entertainment sure to chase away a blue afternoon.

Hugh Grant and Colin Firth are both very good, and Gemma Jones as Bridget's mother is a charming, dotty sight to see. Bridget's friends are funny as a kind of foil to the tired glamor of Yank TV's "Friends." And there's a darling "home movie" sequence during the closing credits purporting to recall Bridget at four and Mark Darcy at eight, that retrospectively and adorably frames the movie.

Should a CHICK FLICK ALERT be declared here? No doubt, but thanks to a warm, bubbly, funny and decidedly unprudish and unaffected (and I must say, somewhat daring) performance by Zellweger, we'll ignore it because we "like her just the way she is."