Bridget
Jones:
The Edge of Reason
Tsk, Tsk, Bridget. We had such high hopes for you.
It’s
hard not to feel a little bit like that of a disappointed
parent in regards to the latest installment in the Bridget
Jones series. This isn’t to say that the film is a
complete disaster, because it manages to please and entertain
for the majority of its duration.
In fact,
many will think I’m off my rocker when watching the
film, because it really never loses pace until trouble comes
flying out of nowhere when it's time to set up the third
act.
Let’s
not get too far ahead of things here. You all remember Bridget
Jones (Renee Zellweger), so we needn’t go into too
much detail setting her up. This is the route Director Beeban
Kidron chooses to take as well, and it works. We
pick up approximately seven weeks after the original film
left off, and we find Bridget hopelessly enamored with her
Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). The two lovebirds have spent their
time together exclusively in what Bridget describes as “seven
weeks of glorious shagging.”
After
seeing the original film, I learned that author Helen Fielding
had also penned a sequel to her popular Bridget Jones’
Diary. At first I pondered whether events from both
books had been used as inspiration for the film, but was
sadly told otherwise.
Then
Edge of Reason is slated for production, and this
intrigue grows: “What happened to Bridget and Mark?
Did she manage to blow that relationship somehow?”
Thankfully
the film does its best to steer clear of falling into repeat
escapades for the sake of a trip to humorous yet fond territory
from its predecessor. This is normally the crutch that sequels
rely on, and Edge of Reason avoids this for the
most part.
It does
waver at times, at one point dipping back into a scenario
involving Marc Darcy and Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) that,
honestly, could not be avoided. The moment was far too hilarious
the first time so it begs for a repeat visit.
This
time around, Bridget has what she wanted but now questions
whether or not she is worthy of such happiness. Her desire
to be all that Darcy requires proves her own worst enemy,
and what we witness here is the all too crucial “first
fight” between new lovers.
In a
way, this is the test for their relationship to come. Bridget,
of course, allows her mind to run away with circumstance,
and her paranoia is the often the instigator of her folly.
The
film moves along at a comfortable pace, covering relevant
ground in regards to Bridget’s relationship with Darcy,
and providing ample laughs throughout. Until a major league
curveball is thrown at the audience in at the onset of the
third act that is so jarring that it nearly sinks the film
in one fatal blow.
The
premise is that Bridget’s job now has her traveling
the world reviewing travel locales with none other than
Daniel Cleaver himself. While on her first assignment in
Thailand, Bridget is torn between hooking back up with a
supposedly reformed Cleaver and sticking to her guns because
he cheated on her before.
Things
are still good until she somehow ends up in a Thai prison
for drug smuggling. This development even works to an extent,
but a Thai prison sequence is too “left-field”
for the flightiness of the Bridget Jones series. Unfortunately
it drags on in attempts of finding humor in the situation,
and frankly there just isn’t any to be found.
All
this aside, the film recovers from said trauma enough to
pull viewers back into the film, and it ends nicely enough
to make the awkward prison sequence a slightly hazy memory.
Many at the screening I attended walked out pondering: “Was
Bridget singing Madonna in prison? OR was it all a dream?”
Unfortunately,
yes, and it was a nightmare best forgotten.
Rating:
|
