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Unpleasantly Plump The sequel to the comedy hit is as about as far from the original as pig dung from the Royal Family. The story arc of Bridget Jones, Part Deux is identical to the first, except for one little detail: Instead of trying to find a man, Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) worries about losing the one she's got. She has already climbed her highest mountain and dreamed her impossible dream, she has her soulmate Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) all wrapped up in a little bow, and yet the movie keeps going. And going. In the short span of four weeks together, Jones and Darcy have already become the couple that don't speak. She stares at him while he sleeps. He chastises her for it grumpily, she apologizes, and then she freaks out thinking that he will break up with her. Rinse and repeat. His slinky secretary (Jacinda Barrett) flirts ominously. Bridget feeds her insecurities by stuffing her face, drinking like a sailor, and then slurring insults at whatever passing character will provide the maximum of shame and embarrassment. It's charming, really. Hugh Grant rears his scaly head as former paramour Daniel Cleaver, and a song and dance routine breaks out in a Thai prison. I wish I was kidding. Beeban Kidron, who directed the hideous drag melodrama To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, clearly doesn't get the Jones phenomenon. Helen Fielding has remarked that Bridget isn't fat at all, she just thinks she is and therein lies the joke. This movie fetishizes fat, blimping Bridget up and then rolling her in pig dung as if we didn't get it. Zellweger has shown admirable career instincts so far but this had to have been humiliating. Then Kidron ratchets up the camp factor well past tolerable, pushes it into misguided slapstick, and culminates in nails-to-the-chalkboard shrillness in the Thai prison. Making matters worse, not a shred of effort appears to have been expended to make the whole undertaking any more original. Entire scenes are repeated from the first movie. The "Ugly Sweater" scene. The "Big Underwear" scene. The "Fight" scene. And so on. This isn't the first time a sequel has been a glorified remake; Desperado and Terminator 2 spring to mind. But at least those movies had some shred of ambition. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason aspires to nothing and barely accomplishes that. Hardcore fans will flock anyway. But if you've haven't seen the first movie then this isn't the place to start. And if you liked the first movie, this sequel is an insult to your intelligence. --Gregory Freitas |
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