Everyone’s favourite hapless romantic and diary-keeper Bridget Jones is back in her fourth instalment! Directed by Michael Morris, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy sees Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, and Emma Thompson reprise their roles from the previous instalments with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Leo Woodall rounding out the cast.
Now in her fifties and a mother of two, Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) has seen her life stall. Where once her days consisted of chasing men and knocking back drinks at the pub, she now has to contend with the cabal of perfect mums at her children’s posh school and a general lack of direction and fulfilment. In a bid to get her life back on track, Bridget returns to work and begins to dabble in online dating. When she strikes up a relationship with the 29-year-old Roxster (Leo Woodall), Bridget is revitalised, but she soon finds herself pulled in all manner of unexpected directions.
The third sequel to 2001’s Bridget Jones’ Diary, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is actually based on the third novel in the series written by Helen Fielding. When the last film in the series, Bridget Jones’ Baby came out I remember thinking that it was a bit risky to develop another film after Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason tanked. It was surprisingly okay and tied up some loose ends nicely, so I was surprised again to hear that there was yet another sequel in the works. Putting aside the fact that the number of Bridget Jones films is equal to the number of Bridget Jones novels, before seeing this film, I would have told you that it was entirely unnecessary. How I love it when a movie proves me wrong.
In the same vein as many other recent releases, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy prominently features a romantic relationship between an older woman and a younger man. It’s teetering on being done to death, but it is executed well enough in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. A part-time park ranger and full-time biology student, Roxster was just supposed to be a flash in the pan, a harmless flirt and one night stand that served to restart Bridget’s engines.
Swept up in his youthful energy and sculpted abs, Roxster quickly inserts himself into Bridget’s life, spending time with her children Billy (Casper Knopf) and Mabel (Mila Jankovic), meeting her friends, and Woodall plays the character with such an innocent, golden retriever-like aura that he’s impossible to hate, even when he does something bad or cringe. Known for his roles in One Day and The White Lotus, Woodall has the good looks and easy on-screen chemistry with Zellweger that makes you a bit weak in the knees.
For Bridget, this dalliance with Roxster helps her to feel like she’s regained some of her youth since settling down to have children. It also helps her to realise that she isn’t young anymore, and finding someone stable and centred enough to provide emotional support to her and her children is more important than having a hot young guy draped over her arm.
As is the pattern with Bridget Jones stories, Bridget not only finds herself with the affection of her young boytoy, but she is also caught up in a flirtatious battle of wits with her son’s science teacher, Mr Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor). A stern and serious man, Mr Wallaker is first at odds with Bridget, but the pair gradually soften towards each other, with Mr Wallaker stepping in to provide guidance and support to a despondent Billy. Ejiofor, as always, is exceptional and while at first it might seem like his chemistry with Zellweger is flat, it is bubbling under the surface beautifully with a satisfying payoff.
The returning cast are also all in very good form, with Hugh Grant basically doing his best impression of Hugh Grant, and Emma Thompson getting to say some of the funniest lines in the script in her role as Dr Rawlings.
Zellweger, this time around, brings a whole new balance to Bridget that feels both fresh and familiar. Bridget hasn’t changed all that much, still equipped with a sharp wit and penchant for putting her foot in her mouth, but in the years following the births of Billy and Mabel, Bridget has let many of her insecurities take over.
Unlike the other Bridget Jones films, Mad About the Boy feels more grounded and aims to tug on your heartstrings just as much as it intends to make you laugh, doing both in equal measure. Charming and full of Fielding’s signature Bridget Jones humour, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is, dare I say, the best of this franchise’s sequels, bringing plenty of laughs and heartfelt moments that help it to stand far above its two previous predecessors.
Round up your girlfriends and keep a couple of tissues handy! Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is in cinemas from this Thursday, February 13.