Back for her third turn as Helen Fielding’s irrepressible heroine, Renée Zellweger proves as funny and endearing as ever in Bridget Jones's Baby.
She does, however, have a new predicament with which to wrestle in her inimitably cack-handed fashion: pregnancy. And she doesn’t know who’s the daddy. The prospective father is a 50/50 toss-up between Patrick Dempsey’s billionaire American Jack, following a bonk in a music festival yurt, and Colin Firth’s uptight Mark Darcy, courtesy of the briefest of rebound flings a few days later.
It’s a slender plot, but original 2001 film director Sharon Maguire, returning to the helm after sitting out the weaker 2004 sequel, makes the most of the gags in a screenplay co-written by Fielding, Dan Mazer and Emma Thompson. The rivalry between the smooth Yank and ill-at-ease Englishman produces the odd snigger, Thompson provides her share of giggles as Bridget’s droll gynaecologist, and Sarah Solemani supplies rude chuckles as a brazenly sassy newsreader. But it’s Zellweger’s Bridget who delivers the film’s biggest, heartiest, most joyfully good-natured guffaws.
Certificate 15. Runtime 118 mins. Director Sharon Maguire
Bridget Jones's Baby is available on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital Download from Universal Pictures (UK).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJsvmscPY9w
Blu-ray & DVD extras:
- Extended Ending
- Gag Reel
- Deleted and Alternate Scenes
- Full Circle: The Making of Bridget Jones’s Baby - A multi-part documentary on the making of Bridget Jones’s Baby featuring interviews with cast and crew including:
- Renee Returns- Renée reprises her iconic role as Bridget Jones. Over the years she and her fellow cast members became more like family than coworkers - join them as they talk about making the new film and what it’s like to reunite after all these years.
- The Difference that 15 Years Makes- Join the cast, hair and make-up designer Jan Sewell, and costume Designer Steven Noble as they discuss how the characters have changed over the last 15 years and how that has informed how their style.
- Bridget’s Boys- Director Sharon Maguire, the writers, and the production team talk about finding the right story to tell about Bridget Jones at this point in her life. Also, join Colin, Patrick and Renee as they talk to us about the dynamic of their love rivalry and their chemistry both on-screen and on set.
- In London, In Love-Production designer John Paul Kelly, Renée and director Sharon Maguire discuss shooting in this stunning location and re-creating Bridget’s flat.
- Sharon’s Show:The Director- Sharon has been with Bridget every step of the way, and was also the inspiration for the original Shazzer in the books. Sharon discusses immersing herself in Bridget’s world and assembling an award-winning team as she returns to direct Bridget Jones’s Baby.
