Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason: Do I NOT Hate This Bad Movie Based on One of My All-Time Favorite Books?
Drunk notes on a dumb movie that's real fun to watch drunk.
I have this theory that certain films are best — perhaps only — enjoyed when watched while drunk on cheap Chardonnay. Chief among these, I have discovered after much rigorous exhaustive research, are mid-tier romantic comedies (though certain period dramas, concert films, and lesser X-Men movies also fall into this category).
Bridget Jones’s Diary is a prime example, as I recently confirmed. Whatever qualms, quibbles, or reservations I have about that movie simply do not hold up in the face of ¾ of a bottle of Yellowtail. And it turns out, the same is true for its 2004 sequel.
Now, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason is objectively a very dumb movie. I don’t just say this as a BJ purist — i.e. someone for whom the films will never ever be good enough because the books are perfect and their essential pleasures apparently cannot be effectively translated to the screen. The Edge of Reason is widely considered to be a failure. Where the first film dulled the first novel’s satirical edge and coated it in sentimental rom-com treacle, the sequel went for broad slapstick, jettisoning the book’s sneaky intelligence. This movie is just dumb dumb dumb.
Also dumb dumb dumb: Me watching Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason drunk, as proved by the following notes discovered in my notes app.
9:28pm: Alcohol units: 4 (including 1 Bloody Mary at brunch earlier why not)
Rennee Zellwergrs haircut tis so v bad. So baddddd! Colun Firths runs so wird in Souns of Music thing.
Is Richer Fingch’s pattren claching reually fashin? Ooohs Crly simon. Maybe soucntrk simprovedment???
Haircut us sobad. Do mbaye everybody’s hate thus mov due to Hair sameler to Felicty????
So, the film opens with BJ still dating her weird stalker Mr. Colin Firth Darcy. They are so happy and in love together, and to illustrate this, there is a weird dumb The Sound of Music1 fantasy scene with BJ and Colin Firth running toward each other over some hill. As noted, Colin Firth runs weirdly — all gangly and flailingly, v unattractive.
More importantly, however, BJ has an unflattering new haircut. Despite this, she still has her job on TV and her boss, Richard Finch, is maybe very stylish, according to drunk me. (Plus, movie gets points for “Nobody Does it Better” credits sequence. Love Carly Simon!)
Trouble is brewing however:
Curiose how Hufe Grent gos ferm Punblisher to on Tv?
Will nveR undrestan why movie mede Jelly Fish an Lesbein Rebecca 2 diffeent charcters….Mabye Feminisem???? )Jasuenda Barrera is a faevor from resal World tho (rmeberin middeschoels i thoug she wast kart Moss hahahah) sos neice shes nice
Alos IS WHY IS RENEESXWIELR DOINR WIEUD DUCK WALKE WADDLE NOW??????B???
BJ’s ex-boyfriend / former boss Hugh Grant, who was a publisher or something in the first movie, is now also on TV hosting a travel show for the same network she works for. No explanation of how that career pivot happened, but obviously it’s all meant to get BJ and Hugh Grant all involved and flirting again (none of that is in the book, btw; Daniel — a.k.a. Hugh Grant’s character — just shows up briefly to try to date rape Bridge; ugh).
Meanwhile, Colin Firth also has a co-worker, Jacinda Barrett, who Bridget is convinced is trying to steal him away from her. Big departure here, as in the book this character, “Rebecca,” is the same character as the “Jelly Fish” woman who randomly casually insults BJ when she’s out at the bar with her friends in the film. Also, in the book Rebecca really is trying to steal Mark Darcy and is not — spoiler alert — a lesbian who is actually in love with Bridget. Seems a strange and random change to make, but as I have been quite fond of Jacinda Barrett ever since she was on The Real World: London, I appreciate the fact that in the end she turns out to be a rather sweet queer woman and not a scheming harpy.
Also, for unexplained reasons, Renée Zellweger seems to have adopted a bizarre waddle in this movie which is v strange and off-putting.
9:41pm: Alcohol units 5 (total; peed tho so 30% less drunk, approx); Sour cream & onion chips: 87 (?); Cadbury Dairy Milk caramel buttons: 8?
is v good movie almost makes Magda a character 🫤.
Lolz Bridget says politics! Love her!
Boring trivia scene — lol @ Footballers Wives thing. Should hav been more of that.
Why do I hate Brigerts aparthent?
Bridget becomes convinced that Colin Darcy is going to propose to her at this fancy lawyer gala dinner they have to go to, so she gets her married friend Magda to help her pick out a perfect gala dress and a Spanx. Magda is a much more prominent character in the books — lots of hilarious phone call where she’s trying to talk to BJ while also screaming at her kids to use the potty — so it’s nice to see her here.
Anyway, Bridget gets an even worse hairdo which she then has to iron out with an actual clothes iron (were flat irons not invented in 2004?). Then at the lawyer dinner everyone is a raging heartless conservative and Bridget is like “LOLOLOLz, none of you can possibly be serious with this utter plutocratic shite!” Then they all have to do a boring law trivia game (does this sort of thing really happen at lawyer galas?) so, BJ is v bored. But then they switch to pop culture trivia and she gets every question about trashy TV, etc. right (some of these were v funny, specifically “Which Footballers Wives star set fire to her own breasts?”), only to get the final question about Madonna catastrophically wrong, losing the game (somehow) for her table. Which is apparently a big deal (why tho?) and she and Colin Darcy get into a big fight. (In the book, this whole scenario ends with BJ and Mark Darcy returning to his house mid-fight to find his housekeeper’s schizophrenic son naked in his bed with a live rabbit. COMEDY!)
But they make up and go skiing. Then BJ thinks she’s preggo, but she isn’t, but she and Mr. Firthcy get into another big fight anyway and for real break up this time.
Note on the adaptation: in much the same way the first book riffs on Pride and Prejudice, The Edge of Reason kinda adapts elements of Persuasion, with BJ’s friends convincing her to break up with Mark Darcy, and a whole Rebecca subplot that kinda mirrors what happens with Louisa Musgrove (sincere apologies for not having the time or wherewithal to explain the plot of Persuasion here). None that is in the movie tho. Also not in the movie: a really funny scene where BJ’s mum invites BJ’s gay friend Tom’s gay boyfriend to read gay pornographic poetry to all her elderly lady friends. (“I was going to read ‘Fister Contemplations!’ he whines when they shut him down.) See what I mean about these movies not understanding COMEDY!?!
Later, BJ’s boss makes her go to Thailand with Hugh Grant to make some TV. There, she does mushrooms and almost sleeps with Hugh Grant again, but just in the nick of time a Thai sex worker shows up at his hotel room and BJ is like, “Bye forever!” and tries to flee Thailand.
Except at the airport, it turns out this hot guy that Shazzer (BJ’s friend Shazzer went to Thailand too BTW) was sexing with put drugs in BJ’s luggage, so she gets thrown into prison.
10:45pm: Alcohol units: 7? H20 units: 1.5; Pee breaks: 3; Percent less drunk per pee break: 10? Further chocolate and/or carbohydrate items consumed: 0 (!!!???)
Thoyght hated thai priso nnonsense but actually v amysed. V fun cameruaderie w\ncie secy worskwr a d madonna !
AWWwwwww!!!! Then bridgert gives all sex wurkers bras and cigfeetes!! THAs IS FEMINISM!
guuuughh fuxo Mar Kdarys friggid creep Shoule be neic t pooe incrasraterd Birdje!!! hes Socoipatt!!!obvly
In jail, Bridget makes friends with all the Thai sex workers and they all sing Madonna songs together (soundtrack massively improved compared to previous film). Luckily, Colin Firth gets BJ released from prison. Unluckily, he is back to being rude to her. Before leaving Thailand, BJ returns to prison with gifts of bras, chocolate, cigarettes, and copies of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus (questionable choice) for all the incarcerated sex workers.
Meanwhile, back in London, Colin Firth shows up to yell at Hugh Grant about abandoning BJ in Thai sex worker jail, and they engage in MORE FISTICUFFS, but this time to the tune of “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” by The Darkness. Again, massive improvement music-wise.
SOUNDTRACK SIS SOOOOOOO SO SI MUCH BETTER AND ALSO THIA FISTITICUFFS IS VVVV AMUSSING!
SIDEBAR: This movie basically establishes Hugh Grant’s Daniel Cleaver as queer! First, in Thailand he tells BJ she was the best sex he ever had EXCEPT FOR THAT TIME HE DID IT WITH A BOY WHEN HE WAS A YOUTH! Then, he tells Colin Firth that the Thai sex worker he slept with after BJ fled his hotel turned out to be “a lovely Thai boy,” which is transphobic misgendering, but still. Wonder if all this was just cheeky Hugh Grant ad-lib…
Back at BJ’s ugly apartment, her friends (including Magda!) are like “Actually, Colin Firth got you out of jail because he loves you. Rudeness is his love language or whatever, remember?” So she goes running to his house where she finds Jacinda Barrett for some reason, who is like “I’m in love with you BJ, not rude Colin Firth!” (Ha! Deranged!) Then Jacinda Barrett KISSES BJ FULL ON THE MOUTH, but BJ’s like, “Nope, strictly dickly!” and runs off leaving Jacinda Barrett all tragically heartbroken.
Crying re: Jacinda Barrett. IS THISA QUEER TRAGEDY??? Am going to pitch Jacinda Barrett intrvoiw to PEOPLE MAGACINE……………
Then my next drunk note is:
O gso freal Asll eep
So, I guess I dozed off? Anyway, here is how the movie ends: BJ goes running off to change her clothes leading to a pointless montage of outfits with a lot of input from the cab driver waiting to take her to Colin Firth. Then at Colin Firth’s law job, she professes her love to him in front of all his ambassador clients or whatever, and he’s like, “Let’s get married, then.” And she says “For sure, let’s!” But instead they just go to her mom and dad’s re-wedding or whatever and that’s the end.
REASONS TO HATE EDGE OF REASON (JUDGING ON CURVE COMPARED TO BJ’S D):
Bridget’s haircut.
Bridget’s waddle.
End of list.
REASONS TO LOVE EDGE OF REASON WHEN DRUNK:
Weirdly moved by Jacinda Barrett’s unrequited queer crush.
Pppfffffhhhhsssppp… All? None? Who cares! Issa goofun!
Next week: Spawn of Jones!
Look! A footnote! In all four of Helen Fielding’s BJ books, Bridget is constantly referencing The Sound of Music, so I’m assuming this is a (pretty lame) reference to that. And actually, I also recently watched The Sound of Music (not drunk) for the very first time and had a genuinely lovely time! Obviously, everyone always talks about how BJ and Mark Darcy’s dynamic is a riff on Elizabeth and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, but they’re also very Maria and Capt. von Trapp!