Books at the Box Office: Bridget Jones Diary

I’ll admit that I did not at first realize, despite it being pretty obvious, that Bridget Jones Diary was a retelling of Pride and Prejudice. I distinctly remember watching the movie as a teenager and thinking “Huh, Colin Firth playing a guy named Mark Darcy. What irony” before realizing in stunning idiocy that that was in fact the point. I have since become more attuned to reality, and recognize BJD for what it is: an absolute cult classic in some circles and a movie series that probably continued on too long.

From Amazon: 

Bridget Jones’s Diary is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud account of a year in the life of a thirty-something Singleton on a permanent doomed quest for self-improvement. Caught between the joys of Singleton fun, and the fear of dying alone and being found three weeks later half eaten by an Alsatian; tortured by Smug Married friends asking, “How’s your love life?” with lascivious, yet patronizing leers, Bridget resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not just to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult and learn to program the VCR. With a blend of flighty charm, existential gloom, and endearing self-deprecation, Bridget Jones’s Diary has touched a raw nerve with millions of readers the world round. Read it and laugh—before you cry, “Bridget Jones is me!”

Now, the trailer:

I mean, this is a pretty star-studded rom-com, and SO hip for when it was made. Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant? Wowza. Jim Broadbent (Slughorn in the Harry Potter films) even plays Bridget’s dad. It’s a very British film. Plus, the author, Helen Fielding, wrote the screenplay, which I love to see in book to film adaptations.

The movie has a lot of laughs, some real heart, and it’s one of those “yessss” girls movie night picks. Cute boys, a story we can relate to, and it is perfect with a big glass of wine. I won’t go into the sequels now, because I don’t think they are as good as the OG, but those are also options if you want to have a whole marathon of the thing.

Oomf, now I want to rewatch BJD, and then have a Colin Firth binge-fest. . Toodles.