Bridget Jones

Bridget Jones’s Diary

(2001)

TOMATOMETER

All critics

81%

Average Rating: 6.9/10

Reviews Counted: 154

Fresh: 124

Rotten: 30

Top critics

68%

Average Rating: 6.2/10

Reviews Counted: 37

Fresh: 25

Rotten: 12

Critics Consensus: Though there was controversy

over the choice of casting, Zellweger's Bridget Jones

is a sympathetic, likable, funny character, giving this

romantic comedy a lot of charm.

AUDIENCE SCORE

81%

liked it

Average Rating: 3.3/5

User Ratings: 494,937

Movie Info

Based on Helen Fielding's hugely popular novel,

this romantic comedy follows Bridget (Renee

Zellweger), a post-feminist, thirty-something

British woman who has a penchant for alcoholic

binges, smoking, and an inability to control her

weight. While trying to keep these things in

check and also deal with her job in publishing,

she visits her parents for a Christmas party.

They try to set her up with Mark (Colin Firth), the

visiting son of one of their neighbors. Snubbed

by Mark, she instead falls for her boss Daniel

(Hugh Grant), a dashing lothario who begins to

send her suggestive e-mails that soon lead to a

dinner date proposition. Daniel reveals that he

and Mark attended college together, during

which time Mark had an affair with his fiancée.

When Bridget finds Daniel cavorting with an

American colleague, she decides to change her

life with a new job as a TV presenter. At a dinner

party, she bumps into Mark again, who

expresses his affection for her; when Daniel

claims he wants Bridget back, the two fight over

who deserves her affections the most. Popular

British performers Gemma Jones, Jim

Broadbent, and Shirley Henderson appear in the

supporting cast. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi

Rating: R (for language and some strong

sexuality)

Genre: Comedy , Romance

Directed By: Sharon Maguire

Written By: Richard Curtis , Richard Davies ,

Andrew Davies , Helen Fielding

In Theaters: Apr 12, 2001 wide

On DVD: Oct 8, 2001

Runtime: 94 minutes

Studio: Miramax Films

[www.rottentomatoes.com]

Theatrical release poster (Wikipedia)

Bridget Jones's

Diary (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bridget Jones's Diary is a 2001 British-American

romantic comedy film directed by Sharon Maguire

and written by Richard Curtis, Andrew Davies, and

Helen Fielding. It is based on Fielding's novel of the

same name, which is a reinterpretation of Jane

Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The adaptation stars

Renée Zellweger as Bridget, Hugh Grant as the

caddish Daniel Cleaver, and Colin Firth as Bridget's

"true love", Mark Darcy. Production began in May

2000 and ended in August 2000, and took place

largely on location in London and the Home

Counties. The film premiered on 4 April 2001 in the

UK and was released to theatres on 13 April 2001

simultaneously in the UK and in the US.

Bridget Jones's Diary received positive reviews and

was a commercial success, grossing over $280

million worldwide. Zellweger was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the

film. A sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason,

was released in 2004 and another sequel, Bridget

Jones's Baby, was released in 2016.

Plot

Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) is 32 years old,

single, very accident-prone and worried about her

weight. She works in publicity at a book publishing

company in London where her main focus is

fantasising about her boss, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh

Grant). At a New Year party hosted by her parents,

she re-encounters Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), the

barrister son of her parents' friends. They had known

each other as children. After their initial encounter,

Mark thinks that Bridget is a fool and vulgar and

Bridget thinks that he is arrogant and rude, and is

disgusted by his novelty Christmas jumper. After

overhearing Mark grumble to his mother about her

attempts to set him up with "a verbally incontinent

spinster who smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish

and dresses like her mother", she decides to turn her

life around. She starts her own diary, which covers all

her attempts to stop smoking, lose weight and find

her Mr. Right.

Bridget and Daniel begin to flirt heavily at work, first

over email, ahead of an important book launch, at

which Bridget bumps into Mark and his glamorous

but haughty colleague Natasha (Embeth Davidtz).

Bridget leaves with Daniel and they have dinner,

despite the fact that he is a notorious womaniser with

a questionable personality, of which Bridget is aware.

Bridget learns from Daniel that he and Mark have a

history and, as a result, hate each other. Daniel

informs Bridget of their falling-out, telling her that

Mark broke their friendship by sleeping with his

fiancée.

Bridget is invited to a family party, and she takes

Daniel along as her "plus one". They spend the day

before the party at a country house hotel, where Mark

and Natasha are also staying. Daniel makes an

excuse about not being able to attend, and sends

Bridget to the party alone. His dubious character

becomes clearer to Bridget and she eventually

breaks off their relationship when she catches him

with another woman, a colleague of his, Lara (Lisa

Barbuscia). Bridget begins to search for a new job

and after landing a job in television, quits her role at

the publishing house without giving notice. Daniel

makes a desperate attempt to convince Bridget to

stay, only for her to retort that "I'd rather have a job

wiping Saddam Hussein's arse".

Bridget has a long-standing invitation to a friend's

dinner party, where she is the only single person and

distraught to see Mark and Natasha seated at the

table. During the party, Mark privately confesses to

Bridget that, despite her faults, he likes her "just the

way she is". He later helps Bridget to achieve an

exclusive TV interview in a landmark legal case.

Bridget begins to develop feelings for Mark, and he

comes to her rescue at her birthday dinner party at

her flat in Borough, which she is disastrously

attempting to cater for herself. Daniel drunkenly

visits, temporarily claiming Bridget's attention. Mark

leaves the party, but returns to face Daniel. Mark

punches Daniel and the two fight. They end up in a

nearby restaurant and finally smash through the

window, landing on the street. Mark wins the battle

and knocks Daniel out. Bridget chides Mark for being

mean and he leaves, but after an insensitive appeal

by Daniel, she also rejects him emphatically.

In the meantime, Bridget's mother, Pamela (Gemma

Jones) temporarily leaves Bridget's father, Colin (Jim

Broadbent) and begins an affair with a perma-tanned

shopping channel presenter named Julian. After the

affair is over and she has reconciled with Colin, she

returns to the Jones family home and unintentionally

reveals a truth: that Mark and Daniel's falling-out

resulted from Daniel (who was Mark's best friend at

Cambridge University) seducing Mark's wife, not the

other way around, as Daniel had led Bridget to

believe.

At the Darcys' ruby wedding anniversary party the

same day, Bridget confesses her feelings for Mark,

only to find out that he and Natasha are both leaving

to accept jobs in New York. Bridget interrupts the

toast to their pending engagement with a stuttering

but moving speech about England losing one of its

finest men. Her words clearly have an effect on Mark,

but he still flies to New York, though with obvious

misgivings. Bridget's friends rally to repair her broken

heart with a surprise trip to Paris, and just as they are

about to leave, Mark appears at Bridget's flat.

When they are about to kiss for the first time, Bridget

goes to her bedroom to change into sexier

underwear. While Bridget is changing, Mark peeks at

her diary, in which she has written many insults about

him. Bridget returns to find that he has left. Realising

that he had read her diary and that she might

potentially lose him again, Bridget runs outside after

him in the snow with a thin sweater and tiger skin-

print underwear. Unable to find him, she is

disheartened and is about to return home when Mark

appears having bought a new diary for Bridget in

order "to make a fresh start". They kiss in the snow-

covered streets. Bridget then notes that "nice boys

don't kiss like that", to which Mark, contrary to his

uptight nature, retorts "Oh yes they fucking do."

Cast

• Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones

• Colin Firth as Mark Darcy

• Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver

• Jim Broadbent as Mr. Colin Jones

• Gemma Jones as Mrs. Pamela Jones

• Celia Imrie as Una Alconbury

• James Faulkner as Uncle Geoffrey

• Shirley Henderson as Jude

• James Callis as Tom

• Sally Phillips as Sharon "Shazza"

• Lisa Barbuscia as Lara

• Donald Douglas as Admiral Darcy

• Charmian May as Mrs. Darcy

• Paul Brooke as Mr. "Tits Pervert"

Fitzherbert

• Embeth Davidtz as Natasha Glenville

• Patrick Barlow as Julian

• Felicity Montagu as Perpetua

• Neil Pearson as Richard Finch

• Dolly Wells as Woney

Also, Salman Rushdie and Jeffrey Archer have

cameos in the film, which pokes fun at Archer's hack

writer reputation. Honor Blackman also has a cameo

as a party guest. Christopher Kouros also made an

appearance as the singing Greek chef in the

restaurant fight scene.

Andrew Davies, screenwriter of the 1995 television

adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, collaborated on

the screenplays for the 2001 and 2004 Bridget Jones

films, in which Crispin Bonham-Carter (Mr. Bingley)

and Lucy Robinson (Mrs. Hurst) appeared in minor

roles. The self-referential in-joke between the

projects convinced Colin Firth to accept the role of

Mark Darcy, as it gave him an opportunity to ridicule

and liberate himself from his Pride and Prejudice

character.

Production

Working Title Films acquired the film rights of the

novel in 1997 before it became a best-seller.

Casting

Actresses who were considered for the role of Bridget

Jones were Helena Bonham Carter, Cate Blanchett,

Emily Watson, Rachel Weisz and Cameron Diaz.

Toni Collette declined the role because she was on

Broadway starring in The Wild Party at the time. Kate

Winslet was also considered, but the producers

decided she was too young. Zellweger's participation

to the film was announced in late February 2000

which concluded a two-year search. Producer Eric

Fellner explained that she "brings enormous

character and conviction to the part". Maguire said of

Zellweger, "I saw in Renee a gift few people have,

that she was able to straddle comedy and emotion."

Zellweger worked on her accent with Barbara

Berkery, who had helped Gwyneth Paltrow for

Shakespeare in Love. She also gained 20 pounds for

the part. To prepare for the role, Zellweger worked at

the producers' request at London book publishers

Picador as a trainee in the publicity department.

Before the film was released, a considerable amount

of controversy surrounded the casting of the

American Zellweger as what some saw as a

quintessentially British heroine. However, her

performance, including her south-eastern English

accent, is widely considered to be of a high standard.

In April 2000, the leading male roles were given to

Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. The director of the film,

Sharon Maguire, is one of Fielding's friends, on

whom the character of Shazza (or Shazzer, short for

Sharon) was reportedly based. In the film, Shazza is

played by Sally Phillips.

Filming

Principal photography began on 16 May 2000 and

concluded on 8 August 2000. The crew spent six

weeks shooting in and around London. Locations

used included Shad Thames where Bridget and

Daniel have their first date, the Royal Courts of

Justice, St Pancras railway station and Tower Bridge.

Scenes were filmed at Stoke Park in

Buckinghamshire where Bridget and Daniel ventured

to for their mini-break. Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire

served as the Darcys' home. Stansted Airport

doubled as JFK Airport in New York, while Syon

House in Brentford featured as the venue for the

anniversary party. The crew filmed for four days at

Snowshill in Gloucestershire which featured as the

home of Bridget Jones's family. After six weeks of

shooting on location, the crew moved to Shepperton

Studios in Surrey.

Reception

The film holds an 81% approval rating on aggregate

review site Rotten Tomatoes with an average score

of 6.9/10, based on 154 reviews. The site's critical

consensus reads: "Though there was controversy

over the choice of casting, Zellweger's Bridget Jones

is a sympathetic, likable, funny character, giving this

romantic comedy a lot of charm." Another review

aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a weighted

mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream

critics, calculated an average score of 66, based on

33 reviews, considered to be "generally favorable

reviews". Critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4

possible stars.

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in

these lists:

• 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10: Nominated

Romantic Comedy Film

Awards and nominations

Renée Zellweger was nominated for the Academy

Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best

Actress in a Leading Role, the Broadcast Film Critics

Association Award for Best Actress, the Empire

Award for Best Actress, the Golden Globe Award for

Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy,

the MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with

Colin Firth), the Satellite Award for Best Actress –

Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, the Screen Actors

Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a

Female Actor in a Leading Role, the Teen Choice

Award for Choice Chemistry (shared with Hugh

Grant), the Teen Choice Award for Choice Liplock

(shared with Grant), and the Dallas–Fort Worth Film

Critics Association Award for Best Actress. Firth won

the European Film Awards Audience Award for Best

Actor and the European Film Award – Jameson

People's Choice Award – Best Actor and was

nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a

Supporting Role and the Satellite Award for Best

Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Grant

won the Evening Standard British Film Awards' Peter

Sellers Award for Comedy and was nominated for the

Empire Award for Best British Actor, the Satellite

Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

Musical or Comedy, and the European Film Award –

Jameson People's Choice Award – Best Actor.

Richard Curtis, Andrew Davies, and Helen Fielding

were nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best

Adapted Screenplay. The film was nominated for the

BAFTA Award for Best British Film, the Golden Globe

Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy,

and the Satellite Award for Best Film – Musical or

Comedy.

Soundtrack

Bridget Jones's Diary: Music from

the Motion Picture

The film's soundtrack was composed by Patrick

Doyle.

It also features two hit songs that were released as

singles, "Out of Reach" by Gabrielle and "It's Raining

Men" by Geri Halliwell.

The single became Halliwell's fourth consecutive

number-one hit single in UK Singles Chart and it

became her most successful solo single to date.

"Feels Like Sex", another song from the album was

originally slated as the lead single, but after "It's

Raining Men" was offered to Halliwell, the song was

released as the first single, and was added to

Scream if You Wanna Go Faster.

Halliwell's version received positive reviews by music

critics, experienced international success and hit the

top ten in over two dozen countries around the world,

going to number one in several of them, although it

did not fare as well on the American charts. However,

in the United Kingdom, "It's Raining Men" debuted at

number-one on the UK Singles Chart and stayed

there for two weeks. It became Halliwell's fourth

consecutive number-one single in the UK, selling

155,000 units in its first week and 80,000 in its

second week. Overall the single went on to sell

440,000 copies in Britain alone, becoming the 13th

best seller of 2001 and Halliwell's most successful

single worldwide.

The song was a big success in France, it sold over

812,000 copies, it was certified "Diamond" by the

Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique

(SNEP). With this song, Geri Halliwell won the

International Song of the Year award at the 2002

NRJ Music Awards in France. A remix of the song,

The Almighty Mix from the Toshiba-EMI series

"Dance Mania", volume 20 was also featured in the

2002 Japanese video games, DDRMAX2 Dance

Dance Revolution 7thMix and Dance Dance

Revolution EXTREME. This version of the song was

used as the theme song in the advertisements for

New Talent Singing Awards Vancouver Audition

2003. In July 2006 the song entered at seventy-nine

on the Mexican Digital Sales Chart, spending two

weeks inside the Top 100.

Halliwell was inspired by the 1980 film Fame for the

video. She said, "I was just watching Fame on video

and I thought what a great excuse". During the video

she also does ballet.

Track listing

Worldwide edition

1. "Out of Reach" by Gabrielle

2. "Respect" by Aretha Franklin

3. "It's Raining Men" by Geri Halliwell

4. "Have You Met Miss Jones?" by Robbie

Williams

5. "I'm Every Woman" by Chaka Khan

6. "Don't Get Me Wrong" by The Pretenders

(UK bonus track)

7. "Kiss That Girl" by Sheryl Crow

8. "Killin' Kind" by Shelby Lynne

9. "Someone Like You" by Dina Carroll

10. "Not of This Earth" by Robbie Williams

11. "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Andy

Williams (UK bonus track)

12. "Love" by Rosey

13. "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" by

Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye

14. "Dreamsome" by Shelby Lynne

15. "It's Only a Diary" by Patrick Doyle

16. "Pretender Got My Heart" by Alisha's Attic

17. "All by Myself" by Jamie O'Neal

18. "Woman Trouble" by Artful Dodger &

Robbie Craig featuring Craig David (UK bonus

track)

19. "Ring Ring Ring" by Aaron Soul

20. "Up, Up and Away" by The 5th Dimension

U.S. edition

1. "Killin' Kind" by Shelby Lynne

2. "Kiss That Girl" by Sheryl Crow

3. "Love" by Rosey

4. "Have You Met Miss Jones?" by Robbie

Williams

5. "All by Myself" by Jamie O'Neal

6. "Just Perfect" by Tracy Bonham

7. "Dreamsome" by Shelby Lynne

8. "Not of This Earth" by Robbie Williams

9. "Out of Reach" by Gabrielle

10. "Someone Like You" by Dina Carroll

11. "It's Raining Men" by Geri Halliwell

12. "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" by

Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye

13. "I'm Every Woman" by Chaka Khan

14. "Pretender Got My Heart" by Alisha's Attic

15. "It's Only a Diary" by Patrick Doyle

Bridget Jones's Diary 2: More Music

from the Motion Picture and Other

V.G. Songs

Track listing

1. "Me and Mrs. Jones" by The Dramatics

2. "Someone Like You" by Van Morrison

3. "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" by

En Vogue

4. "My Funny Valentine" by Elvis Costello

5. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana

Ross

6. "Yes" by McAlmont and Butler

7. "Woman" by Neneh Cherry

8. "Without You" by Nilsson

9. "Do What You Gotta Do" by Nina Simone

10. "Say What You Want" by Texas

11. "Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders

12. "Out of Reach (Acoustic Version)" by

Gabrielle

13. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" by The

Shirelles

14. "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye

15. "Waterfalls" by TLC

16. "Angels" by Robbie Williams

17. "It Should Have Been Me" by Yvonne Fair

18. "Ooo Baby Baby" by Smokey Robinson &

The Miracles

19. "I Don't Want to Talk About It" by Dina

Carroll

20. "Passionate Kisses" by Mary Chapin

Carpenter

DVD and VHS release

The VHS was released in 2001 containing over 35

minutes of bonus material which includes: Deleted

Scenes, Exclusive Interviews, Bridget’s Guide to

“Getting It Right”. There was also a VHS of "The

Making of Bridget Jones". In 2001 the film was

released on DVD containing brand new bonus

material and in 2011 a Blu-ray version of the film was

released. A Collective Edition of the film was

released in 2004 with new bonus material including;

The Bridget Phenomenon, The Young And The

Mateless, Portrait Of The Makeup Artist, Domestic

and International TV Spots, Bridget Jones: The Edge

Of Reason Theatrical Trailer, Bridget Jones's Diary

Reviews and A Guide to Bridget Britishism.

Connection to Pride and

Prejudice

Fielding has stated in many interviews that her novel

was based upon both Jane Austen's work Pride and

Prejudice and its popular 1995 BBC adaptation. This

was also reflected in the decision to cast Colin Firth

as Darcy, since he played the 'real' Mr. Darcy in the

BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. This is not

the film's only connection to that serial – the

screenplay was co-written by Andrew Davies, who

had written the adaptation of Austen's novel for the

BBC.

Musical adaptation

Main article: Bridget Jones' Diary (musical)

The film version is currently being adapted into a

musical, set to hit London's West End, although no

date has been set. British musician Lily Allen has

written the score and lyrics, and Stephen Daldry, best

known for his Tony award-winning work on the West

End and Broadway productions of Billy Elliot, will be

directing, joined by his co-worker Peter Darling, who

will serve as choreographer.

An official cast for the production has not yet been

announced, but workshops for the show have already

begun with television actress and current star of

Legally Blonde, Sheridan Smith, in the title role.