Cinema is a powerful tool of communication and change. It can also be the easiest way to forget your troubles and believe in the impossible. It’s antithetic, yes. But it’s also perhaps the best way to encompass my feelings after watching Bridget Jones’ Baby .
Twelve years after the sequel to the first Bridget Jones film released, we’re back to square one where the previously podgy protagonist is spending her birthday alone. She’s 43 and she’s about to bawl her eyes out listening to Celine Dion’s rendition of ‘All By Myself’. But then in a remarkably self-respectful act, she chooses not to feel sorry for herself and instead pumps her fists and lip syncs to House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’. Bridget declares, why make the same mistakes over and over again, when she can make new ones. We see a svelte Bridget, proud of her body strut across the same London Bridge as we’ve seen her doing before.
It appears that this time around, Bridget is no longer desperate for a man. In spite of the infamous panty scene in the 2001 film or the rain-soaked declaration of love in 2004’s Edge of Reason , Bridget and Mark Darcy (the forever yummy Colin Firth) did not work out. He may have said he likes her just the way she is, but it’s not been enough. And in this case, that much-coveted walk down the aisle has slipped through their fingers.
In her new man-less avatar, Bridget embraces the hook-up culture and has a one-night stand with Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey). The American expat, who unbeknownst to Bridget is a billionaire, and has developed a dating website that promises to find its users true love based on algorithms. Then a few days later, a chance encounter with her ex, Mark also results in ‘relations’. And when Bridget finds out she’s pregnant, Bridget Jones’s Baby comes into being.
The film is essentially about Bridget navigating the murky waters of telling the men she’s slept with that she’s pregnant. Further drama ensues when she chickens out on the test that could prove the baby’s paternity. She’s got to deal with two fathers-to-be. On one hand, Mark is Bridget’s big whale, the one that got away and she’s still pining for him. Then there’s Jack, who’s too good to be true and positive about co-parenting with a sourpuss like Mark hovering about. Like Bridget says, she’s been in love with Mark and could be in love with Jack in the future. So who will she end up choosing? Yet again, two men vie for Bridget’s attention. Only in this film, Hugh Grant’s Daniel Cleaver (assumed to be dead in a plane crash) is replaced by a far more affable American.
The third installment to the series starts off promisingly, but in the end it adheres to every other clichéd rom-com out there: a woman needs a husband (who’s madly in love with her) and baby to truly lead a fulfilled life. And then here’s when the second part of the antithetic statement cruelly kicks in. The film’s funny and enjoyable if you can manage to let it be what it is: pure entertainment. A hilarious scene (one of several) has Bridget and a friend failing to recognise Ed Sheeran at a Glastonbury-like hippie outdoors glamping music festival. They ask for a picture which the singer mistakes to be a selfie only to be rudely reprimanded by the women. Also the term geriatric pregnancy — often thrown around in the film — which is apparently legitimate, is downright funny.
So don’t pause to think. Throw out every rational thought that says everyone can lead a fulfilled life despite the absence of a romantic partner or marriage. Shut your brain and enjoy Bridget Jones’s Baby for that satisfying-as-hell romantic ending. True love does exist … on the big screen in this case. And it’s absolutely fun to watch. Just make sure that you’ve taken off those rose-tinted glasses once you’ve left the cinema.
