Miss Flicks

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy – Film Review

After nine years, our favourite hopeless romantic Bridget Jones is back for one last time with Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.

Set four years after the death of Mark Darcy (not a spoiler), this fourth chapter follows Bridget (Renee Zellweger) as she copes with being a widow and single mother to two young children Billy and Mabel (Casper Knopf and Mila Jankovic). After simply surviving for four years, she decides it’s time to start thriving again so she hires a nanny, returns to work and throws herself back out on the dating scene.

This film is very different tonally from the other three and it has to be, given what has happened. The love of Bridget’s life is dead so the story has to evolve from what it was. It’s not a lightweight romantic comedy like you might expect. There’s still comedy and there’s still romance but this is more of a heartfelt, meaningful and emotional drama about grief and remembering your lost loved ones. That is the heart of the film and all the romance storylines are secondary.

Director Michael Morris, who made his directorial debut with 2023’s To Leslie, doesn’t forget the DNA of a Bridget Jones movie though. The comedy level might not be as high as the previous films but there are still plenty of silly hijinks to be found. I still laughed out loud a bunch of times. Morris knows when to let us sit in the emotions of a scene (without letting it get too sentimental) and when to undercut it with humour so we’re not sad for too long.

It was a delight to be reunited with Zellweger’s charming Bridget and her wild BFFs Shazzer, Jude and Tom (Sally Phillips, Shirley Henderson and James Callis) but I must admit that I was more excited about the return of Hugh Grant‘s Daniel Cleaver following his absence from the third film. I wondered how he’d fit into the new story and his inclusion is handled very well. He’s still up to his old tricks but his relationship with Bridget has evolved into a lovely friendship. He provides excellent comic relief, as does Emma Thompson as Bridget’s gynaecologist Dr Rawlings. Leo Woodall and Chiwetel Ejiofor are welcome newcomers as the love interests Roxster and Mr Wallaker but the older characters are the best.

I do have some questions though: What happened to Patrick Dempsey‘s Jack? What happened to Tom’s hair? What happened to Shazzer, Jude and Tom’s partners and children (a big plot point for Baby)? Why did Isla Fisher only get one scene? Yes, they might be trivial questions but these are all things Bridget Jones fans will notice.

My expectations for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy were low, given that it’s the fourth film in a franchise with diminishing returns, but it’s a return to form and I liked it, very much, just as it is.

In cinemas from Thursday 13th February