Customer Reviews

Bridget Jones's Diary (Widescreen)

5 star:		(177)
4 star:		(89)
3 star:		(30)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

There are plenty of great reviews for this already, so I'll confine mine to a point some perhaps will think is minor.

This is one of my favourite movies, I've seen it countless times and used to own it back in Australia. I finally purchased a copy, this "collector's edition" which is really just a fancy cardboard cover over the regular disk as far as I'm concerned, and watched it last night.

I shouldn't have been surprised at the few edits I spotted, yet I was, and disappointed. The minor ones were that a few words had been changed, which seemed a bit patronising, "dumbed-down" even - the first reference to a gherkin (in her voice-over as she arrives at her parent's house) has been changed to "pickle", and later "eaten by Alsatians" has been changed to "eaten by dogs" (for anyone who doesn't know, "Alsatian" is the other name for a German Shepard - one name is considered politically incorrect, I forget which one). Considering all the other "Brittishisms" in the movie, I don't see the point of changing these two words.

That I could easily forgive, if it weren't for the change to the end credits. The orginal has some mini-interviews sprinkled throughout the credits that are absolutely hilarious, including one with Darcy's parents in which his dad says he likes a girl with a big bum that you can "rest your pint on" and "park your bike between" (ok, I get that that might offend some people, but I think what characters in, say, Hollywood action movies say is worse, and often more offensive), and another in which Daniel, in a bar, says how happy he is for Bridget and it's ok cause he's met someone too, though he can't get her name right and she is in fact a transvestite (it was his fear, as expressed earlier in the movie, that he end up lonely in a bar).

When I first saw this movie in the cinema, the audience could not stop laughing during the end credits, and it remained one of my favourite bits. In the North American version it's been replaced with a sappy "home movie" of Bridget and Darcy as kids at Darcy's birthday party and oh, look, they're holding hands, isn't that cute. Frankly, no, it's not, and it doesn't fit the rest of the movie, which isn't at all cute, it doesn't match at all. Hence the four stars, when really it deserves 5.

If you like your British humour straight up, and enjoyed the other politically incorrect comments sprinkled liberally throughout the movie, then try to get a hold of the original version. The differences are minor but it's worth it for the alternate end credits. While it is common practice for there to be "American" versions of classic British TV shows (Red Dwarf, Ab Fab, The Office), movies are usually safe from the editing room. I just hope nothing's been changed on the Blackadder DVD I just ordered...

Renee Zellweger is a delight in the title role of this frothy film. I was floored by her klutzy radiance. I had just seen a super slim Renee in "Chicago" and marvel at how youthful and appealing she is with a few extra pounds.

"Bridget Jones Diary" is a chick flick that transcends the genre. The plot has the barest nod to Ms. Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" though Elizabeth Bennett would be flabbergasted to find Bridget in her role. Colin Firth actually recreates Mr. Darcy (see his fine BBC performance of P&P) with his tongue firmly in cheek. Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) is Bridget's wicked temptation of a faithless lover. I must say if Hugh Grant is lovable as a dim wit comedian, he is devastating in a charming villain role.

Bridget is a not-quite-featherhead, obsessively concerned with her weight, sex life and self-perceived lack of charm, looks, and luck. In her early 30's, she worries about expiring in her lonely room and being eaten by dogs. She dislikes "smug marrieds," but is fearfully intimidated by them. Bridget makes sporadic attempts to take control of her life usually with disastrous results.

It took me this long to see the movie because I was lukewarm about the book. However, Ms. Zellweger brings Bridget to life in such a way that I was instantly won over by her ditzy charm. I fervently championed her every triumph and was saddened by her setbacks (usually brought on by herself). This is a feel-good film and definitely worth a 120 minute investment. Treat yourself to a guilt-free chocolate sundae after the movie. Enjoy!
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer

I pushed the eject button on this DVD wondering "Why on earth would anyone, leave alone a stand-in for Mr. Darcy, want to be with Bridget?

Don't get me wrong, I understand the idea: the main character is lovable despite her flaws, and for once it isn't a Cinderella story about becoming beautiful (read: skinny) when you thought you weren't. She drinks, she smokes, she's kind of a bumbler socially, but she can still be happy, right? She can still find true love. That's a likable premise.

Except... um... why were we supposed to like this woman again?

Hugh Grant and Colin Firth are really fun in this movie. Grant seems to relish his role as the scoundrel, and man, the guy has wonderful comic timing. Colin Firth basically is meant to be Pride and Prejudice's Mr. Darcy -- the character's name is Mark Darcy, and Firth played Darcy in the BBC miniseries version of that book -- but instead of being proud or disdainful, it seems as if the direction might have been "do your best to bore the audience." He's a bland, bland guy, Mark Darcy. Firth works through that okay, he's a flawless actor and he can make his limp noodle of a character stand up -- but even he can't rescue the idea that his character would fall in love with Ms. Jones. Why would he do THAT?

This movie's working really hard to make Bridget adorable, to make her haplessness touching. It didn't work for me. Bridget's an "event magnet"; she's the sort of person things are always happening "to" mainly because of how oblivious she is to everything outside her own head. She's self-involved, and things just sort of keep knocking over when she accidentally stumbles into them. The lovable quality just didn't outweigh the obnoxious one. She's really kind of a jerk in several spots.

It isn't Renee Zellweger's fault, she's basically as adorable as anyone going. It's the writing and the directing. I mean, c'mon -- the character goes to a "tarts and vicars" costume wearing a playboy bunny costume. When she realizes it isn't really a costumer, she continues to wear her outfit, complete with bunny ears, for the rest of the party and (apparently) all the way home to her flat in London. Hours after her humiliation, she hasn't taken the ears off? That's pretty DANG contrived. Jack Tripper could have stumbled in from "Three's Company" at any moment, making lovey eyes at Bridget, and you wouldn't have blinked.

This struck me as just another poor, soundtrack-pushing adaptation of a pretty good pop novel. The DVD includes some of the original "Diary" entries as an added feature, and they give you the sense of a bright-enough person who's being endearingly self-deprecating in her journal. That never came across for me.

My advice is to try the books.

Let me begin by saying that I do NOT like chick flicks. This is the ONLY girly movie I have ever liked in my life! I am a huge fan of British movies and British actors in general, so that's why I decided to see this movie in the first place. I remember watching it when it was first released but I hadn't seen it since then (until last night). On a whim, I borrowed the DVD from my local library a couple days ago and I am SO glad I did because I laughed just as hard the second time around.

The characters are real and relatable and the storyline is classic (Pride & Prejudice). Perhaps the best fight scene I've ever seen in a movie takes place in this one when Mark and Daniel scrap outside (and inside) the Greek restaurant, across the street from Jones's house. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!

Hugh Grant is at his caddish best and Colin Firth plays Darcy to a tee (as he did so well in the TV production of Pride & Prejudice in 1995). A casual viewer would never guess that Renee is NOT a Brit - she pulls the role off really well and should be congratulated for doing so. If you're in the mood for a good laugh and some naughty behaviour, you've GOT to see Bridget Jones's Diary!

a very good movie bridget is someone who you laugh with feel bad for,and understand.at least once in every women's life we felt like bridget,but one thing is for sure she bounces back,stronger then before a great movie highly recommend it.

OK, first things first...Loved the book(s) and loved the movie...Though its premise was loosely based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the new "contemporary" twist doesn't stray off from the story itself. The character of Bridget(played by Renee Zellwegger) was so embraced by all 30+somethings still looking for that "MR.DARCY" or better yet in the form of the true Mr. Darcy played by the wonderous Colin Firth. She is, in this movie, Elizabeth, searching for the ONE. And in doing so, is witted away by, in some sorts Wickham or Daniel Cleaver played by the ever-so surprising Hugh Grant. The surprise chemistry between all 3 main characters are proven throughout every situation. (Spoiler :And the fight scene between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant alone will make up for any faults in this movie :) ). The single, lonely, spinster; the aloof, repressed lawyer; and the bachelor of bachelors all wanting and looking, for the same thing. The message at the end just tells us that no matter what we try to be or look like or act like, "TRUE LOVE" will take you ......just as you are!!!!

Bridget Jones's Diary was an unexpected surprise for me. I suppose I expected a sappy Renee and Hugh love story. It's not. Substitute sticky for sappy and lust for love and your getting in the right neighborhood.

I didn't have to identify with Bridget's (Renee Zellweger) biological clock to get the squirmy wormies during her multiple awkward situations or to feel triumphant when she overcame in spite of her embarrassment.

Hugh Grant plays the lovable rogue and the object of Bridget's heart. Even though the role of the scoundrel is a departure for Grant he plays it much as he does when he's the victim of love. If anything his good guy history adds to the allure of twists in the movie.

I am a Renee Z fan anyway but her portrayal of an undesirable, overweight, out of the game English spinster was amazing. None of these terms come to mind when I think of Ms Zellweger yet she was completely believable.

Oh yeah, I forgot the most important thing; I laughed out loud a lot. This is a very funny movie.

The story is great. The cast is great. Buy the movie.

What sets this movie apart from other romantic comedies is that its heroine is a witty, self-deprecating, socially clumsy woman who isn't stick-thin, who doesn't look polished, and who will not have to undergo a makeover or any other kind of enormous transformation just to steal the hero's heart. He likes her just as she is. And so do we, even if we think her a bit daft for taking so long to realize that he's the right man for her.

But before Bridget even allows herself to admit that the proud and reserved Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) is not as bad as she thought, she's first swept away by her boss, Daniel Cleaver, played in a delightfully rakish way by Hugh Grant. And not only does she have to sort out her feelings for Darcy and Cleaver, she also has a host of other difficulties to deal with - her parents' troubled marriage, her fondness for fatty foods, her love of drink, and her tendency to speak without thinking.

Highlights of the movie include Bridget dressing up as a Playboy Bunny for what she thought was a tarts and vicars party. Another funny scene is her in the kitchen, ineptly making blue soup and swampy-looking gravy for her birthday dinner. Sometimes the movie did go too over the top, as in the fight scene between Cleaver and Darcy. Also, in the DVD outtakes, I didn't see any additional scenes with Colin Firth (a pity, because he's so well-suited for such a role and so easy on the eyes...). But on the whole, the movie was delightful, fun and full of warmth.

BRAVO Bridget Jones!
This movie is truly and amazingly unique and hilarious! Rene Zellweger is charming and funny as a slightly overweight publisher. Colin Firth is very fresh as a top notch lawyer, and Hugh Grant is amazing as a head publisher(...)
This story tells of Bridget Jones, who is an alcoholic and slightly overweight, but very lovely British woman who wants to change her ways and get a boyfriend. She finds her man in no time, Daniel Cleaver, who is her boss, but shortly finds out that he is NOT the man she's been looking for. In a strange turn of events, Bridget quits her job and finds another as a TV personality. After more events, mad depresssion, getting hung over, a (REAL) fight, and a divorce in the family, she finds the truth about jerky Mark and Daniel, and finds true love. But it wasn't easy for her after she finds out of his engagement to a dull, boring woman who is also his patrner in law, Natasha.
YOu'll love this movie and find it charming and frickin' funny!

What a wonderful film! This is a quirky, sweet movie about a regular woman, which is rarely seen in Hollywood. Renée Zellweger is fabulous in her part, as is the rest of the cast. Of course Colin Firth is amazing, as Mr. Darcy is the only role I really see him fit to play. He is perfect in his role, although I don't think anyone else could have played it. Hugh Grant, whom I normally don't like (with the exception of Sense & Sensibility), is wonderful in his role as Daniel. I've never liked him much as a good guy in movies, but he makes a perfect jerk.

This movie is a must-see, whether or not you've read the book. There are a lot of subtle references to P&P that can easily be missed and are fun to find. Such as the first time I watched I didn't notice that the publishing company was called Pimberley. I didn't notice until I saw the logo on the wall in one of the scenes. I'm sure if you've read the book, this doesn't seem so subtle, but it's still fun to recognize these things.

Also, this has the one thing no other P&P film, mini-series or sequel has - terribly fake, but hilarious fighting between Darcy & Wickham/Daniel to 'It's Raining Men.'