Movies To Read By...

Title: Bridget Jones's Diary

Released: 2001

Cast: Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, and Colin Firth

Plot: Based on the novel by Helen Fielding, thirty-two-year-old Bridget Jones (Renée Zelwegger) decides, after a very embarrassing holiday party at her parent's house, that it's time she take control of her life by starting a diary. In it she will monitor her weight, alcohol and smoking units in an attempt to reduce all three. In addition, she will make a point to find a sensible boyfriend and try her best to stay away from her boss and the man she's been fantasizing about - Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant). When some naughty office talk has Daniel making a successful pass at Bridget, she thinks it's love only to have her heart brutally broken which was exactly the outcome that her nemesis and constant witness of her daily humiliation, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), predicted. But what Bridget would never guess, never believe, is that stuffy old Mark is interested in her and has been for quite some time. But when Daniel comes back into her life to make another go at their relationship, Bridget - a woman who less then a year ago had no male prospects, now has her choice between two very hunky men.

It's a movie to read by because:

'Bridget Jones's Diary' is one of my all time favorite, go to movie when I can't find a single thing on TV despite the fact that I have seven hundred channels to choose from. What is that all about anyway? How can there not be anything on TV when there's that many channels? It's a question for the cosmos I suppose because I've yet to discover an answer... Anyway, back to my love affair with BJD. I've never read the book and I never will. The movie has been committed deeply to my heart and I don't think I could read the book without drawing too many non-comparisons. The idea of it makes me shudder.

Bridget Jones is a woman loved by women. She's every woman's inner girl who makes mistakes but is just simply looking for happiness and despite the fact that life has tossed her many a curve ball, she's forever optimistic - well we try to be optimistic, right? What Bridget is, is real. A real person. She's not perfect, which is such a common trait in romantic fiction and I don't know about the rest of you but I get tired of it. I recently completed a book where every single character was beautiful. What the hell?! I'm sorry but that's just not the way of the world and I found myself shaking my head in disappointment over it. Women of every shape and size deserve a Happily Ever After, not just the stunningly gorgeous.

There's also something to be said about the men in 'Bridget Jones's Diary'. Both Daniel Cleaver and Mark Darcy are incredibly successful and good looking and for them each to be attracted to a woman such as Bridget gives hope to women world over. Both men see Bridget for who she is and unlike Bridget, they don't find her lacking (well Daniel does but I don't think that even he believed what he was saying). And then, to have these two men fighting over you? Well that's pause for a celebration!

What is it with us women always feeling the need to change? It's like we're always the sex that has to better ourselves for our opposites and Bridget isn't immune to this crumbling self-esteem need. There's a fantastic scene that I like to call the "Just as You Are" scene where Mark, finally manning up (and basically throwing everyone through a loop. For those who've seen it, you know what I mean.) and after listing all of Bridget's faults ends his tirade saying that he likes her just as she is, faults and all. I thought it was the nicest thing that anyone could say to another. It's what we're saying when choose that one person to spend our lives with. We're saying that we love them, everything about them, the good along with the bad and then suddenly the need to change ourselves becomes blessedly no longer relevant.

Oh gawd, Colin Firth is so sexy in this movie. He's got the lingering smoldering eye look down to perfection! There's a particular scene that always makes me smile in watery sadness and that's when Bridget and Daniel go on a mini break to the same little resort where Mark and his "girlfriend" are also staying (I use the girlfriend term very loosely). Bridget and Daniel are having a fabulous time in small canoe-like boats upon a quaint little lake, laughing and trying to hilariously make up poetry (the bent cigarette always kills me!) when suddenly the camera pans over to Mark whose doing the same thing but having a lot less fun. Him and his "girlfriend" are going over legal depositions and when he sees Bridget and Daniel laughing the viewer can see so clearly the longing in his eyes. You see, he's the perfect balance for Bridget. She's kind of a hodge-podge mess and could use some grounding while Mark could really use a huge dose of reckless abandonment which Bridget provides in spades. She'd brighten his life while he would add consistency to hers. Isn't that what we're always striving for? That perfect balance?

Then there's bad boy Daniel Cleaver. I'm a major Hugh Grant fan, always have been. If Meg Ryan is the RomCom Queen he is undoubtedly the King. While Daniel perhaps isn't the best choice for Bridget, he's integral to her development. He's also the first of the two men to accept Bridget for who she is but without the toe-curling romance of Mark Darcy's 'Just as You Are" speech. She makes him laugh and puts him at ease but one must always be wary of the bad boy. Not every rake makes a perfect husband. But despite all of Cleaver's faults, I still loved him. He's hilarious and horribly jaded but just as lost as Bridget which makes you incredibly sympathetic to him. (Side note: Daniel Cleaver in BJD was vastly differently than the one in BJD: Edge of Reason. Did anyone else think this?)

In addition to Bridget and her hunky men, I'm totally loving her parents. There's always somebody weird in every one's family and in Bridget's case, it happens to be her mother. But even Mrs. Jones's journey of loosing love and finding it again is a lesson learned by Bridget. And of course there's Bridget's friends and while they do offer horrible advice, they stand by Bridget. They're there for her at all times and when they see an opportunity to push along her love life, they do so with humor and love.

'Bridget Jones's Diary' deserves a requisite viewing by all romance lovers. Bridget's quirky character is endearing and incredibly easy to relate to by all women, single and married. It proves the renowned truth that everyone, deep down, are not always what they appear to be on the outside and that even the proudest, most arrogant have a soft heart and long for love and acceptance just like the rest of us. Besides, it's totally hilarious and one can become so wonderfully lost in the British accent and whit. Oh, and let's not forget the yummy eye candy. *wink*



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