★★★½☆
Beyond a distinct celebration of feminism, Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) is back after some years to explore life as an older member of the female population in the UK. Life, as we all know it, is always unpredictable. The only way to truly enjoy it – is to go as you wish without any constraints from conventions and expectations.
The liberty to live as one wishes is exactly what Bridget Jones’s Baby is all about. Director Sharon Maguire draws upon the story of single-and-no-longer-young Jones and how she navigates through age gaps (wearing sweater and heels to a muddy outdoor music concert) to pursue true love and happiness.
True love is an overstatement here – it is soon realised and perceived by an elder Jones to be a mere idealism that isn’t practical by today’s standards. This was not until she crashed into the path of a romantic saint Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey) who happens to be an eligible single online billionaire who studies the numerical odds of compatibility between two persons.
Perhaps scripting out female fantasies here but Jones’ old flame Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) conveniently coincides with her life circle to result in an uncanny situation of a pregnancy-induced love triangle. Uncertain if Qwant or Darcy is the father of the child, Jones goes on a love-hate journey of unravelling who she is and what she really wants.
Before all of this, Jones looks out eagerly for a man of her life to sweep her off into the horizon to live happily ever after. Perhaps being granted with more than she could hope for, the two gentlemen in her life gave rise to quite a number of interesting and hilarious scenes to watch out for.
Kudos to screenwriters Dan Mazer (who also scripted Bruno and Borat) and Emma Thompson, who’s also extremely funny as Jones’ gynaecologist Dr Rawlings in the film, Bridget Jones’s Baby is a solid blast of funny good time. From the tension between Qwant and Darcy in competition for Jones’ affection to the embarrassing moments of Jones’ friendship with her best friend / television news anchor Miranda (Sarah Solemani), the 123-minute film manages to captivate despite its lengthy running time.
Bridget Jones’s Baby reflects strong feminism values as a natural by-product of its romance-comedy genre. This allows much better appreciation and understanding of Jones’ perspective and what she goes through – even going as far as causing male audience members like this reviewer to be envious of Jones.
It’s an enjoyable cinematic reminder of how some things are worth the wait – as long as one knows what one desires and never giving up. Everyone has the rights and opportunities to experience true love and other good things in life. Even when one doesn’t recognise a celebrity when facing one (cameo appearance by Ed Sheeran), it’s all part of the big bubble of silly joy and laughter that is always good to indulge in once in a while.
Bridget Jones’s Baby is well worth the long wait and a reflection of life that doesn’t take itself too seriously for its own benefit.
Also published on InCinemas.sg
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