Bridget Jones Diary

Lover: Taken from IMDB
“Bridget Jones's Diary is full of lighthearted fun. The cast is wonderful - especially true for Colin Firth. His performance is magical. Being given such a thin material to work with, playing a `dreadful cold fish', he has artfully shown Mark Darcy's kindness and charm that gradually wins everyone's heart. This would be an impossible mission for actors other than Colin Firth. I enjoy every minute of his performance. In my opinion, they should give this nice boy more camera times - that's the only complain I have about this movie. Besides this complain, I have to congratulate the whole production team for successfully creating a movie of such weightless fun, and at the same time being honest and sincere to the human emotions. It is very hard to believe that this movie is Sharon Maguire's first one. I never read the book. So, you can trust my observation to be totally independent of the book. If you wish to have some fun and also like to dream a little bit, this is definitely the movie for you. BTW. If you enjoy watching drama and haven't seen Colin Firth's "Pride And Prejudice" (BBC), do yourself a favor and rent it. He is *really* a great "Character Actor" - one of the most talented alive.”

Very full of praise for Colin Firth and why not he is very likable in this. However it’s very easy for Colin Firth to play his Darcy in most things he’s in. It is weightless fun but being honest and sincere to human emotions is a bit of a stretch, a woman’s maybe not a man’s.

Hater: Taken from IMDB
“Renee Zellweger's ludicrous British accent is only one of the outrages perpetrated in Sharon Maguire's film of the Helen Fielding bestseller about the life and loves of a thirty-something single woman. This is a film that could set the feminist cause back thirty years with its shamelessly aggressive belief that women have careers only to make themselves more available to men and that life isn't worth living if Mr. Right doesn't come along. Zellweger spends the entire film trying to convince us she's got the accent down but she's only a caricature--and a blank one at that. Maguire, meanwhile, spends just as much effort trying to convince us that a natural beauty like Zellweger is fat and plain--it's a sham (much like Janeane Garafolo is in `The Truth About Cats & Dogs'). The rest of the cast is uninspired; even the dependable Hugh Grant, trying to play against type as a cad, barely registers a pulse and Colin Firth, as Mr. Right, is curiously unlikable. The script (by Fielding and two other-male-writers) is shallow and tedious.”

That has to be the biggest problem with this film that Renee Zellweger is parading as a middle aged British woman. I stress the word parading as she really does over play it a bit and all with an awful attempt at a British accent. It’s just the best example of just how wrong Americans can get not just us brits but the rest of the world.

What I thought:
Beside my obvious anger at the casting of Miss Zellweger I don’t mind Bridget Jones, for a chick-flic it has enough silly humour that can appeal to both the sexes; From the brilliantly portrayed ‘fight’ between Firth and Grant to the strange relatives and crude Christmas Jumpers. To review this properly however I need the opinion of the appropriate audience. My wife liked Bridget Jones but noted that it was not as good as the book and the sequel even less so. The most frustrating thing though and I agree with her, is with the wealth of female acting talent available on our own shores the creators decided to cast an American.

Not much else to say on this one I’m afraid and I feel a bit like a cheat, it’s a chick-flic that has been out for a while so it’s a little hard for me to talk about in length. However the great thing about having your own blog means you can re-visit reviews as new things pop up.