Rising up within the 2000s, the Bridget Jones sequence have been the final word consolation movies for me. To today, I nonetheless cackle with my household and buddies over the cringe-inducing scenes involving Bridget climbing again up a fireman’s pole on nationwide tv and the hilarious flailing fistfights in fountains between her love pursuits.
After I heard there was extra Bridget on the best way, I used to be initially excited… till I found which e book from creator Helen Fielding was being tailored. And sadly, the freshly dropped first trailer for the movie confirmed my fears as soon as and for all.
Spoilers for Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy beneath
The fourth instalment within the sequence will convey again the relatable, loveable and clumsy Bridget Jones in all her glory, together with Renée Zellweger within the starring position. Nonetheless, her one real love, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), was killed 4 years earlier than this new flick is ready whereas engaged on a humanitarian mission in Sudan, in response to the official synopsis from Selection.
The primary trailer for the movie confirms that our rom-com heroine is navigating life as a widow, and the mum of two younger children, Billy and Mabel. We see Bridget imagining her late husband by her aspect and discussing how a lot she misses him along with her daughter.
There’ll nonetheless be romance after all – the footage exhibits Bridget getting again on the relationship scene with a 29-year-old toy boy, performed by Leo Woodall.
Now don’t get me mistaken, an exploration of a fancy love life after shedding your soulmate is a nuanced story to inform, particularly when the daddy is abandoning a household unit… however that’s not what I need to watch Bridget Jones for.
These movies are my digital fuzzy blankets and cups of cocoa in the course of the winter months. Many individuals dream of discovering their very own Mark Darcy, standing within the snow and accepting them for who they’re – although maybe we’d all agree that we wouldn’t be clad in simply our knickers for that half like Bridget is.
Whereas many elements of the unique two movies haven’t aged effectively – significantly the points of Bridget’s weight and her sexually harassing ‘uncle’ – the core love story has nonetheless held as much as today.
All three movies within the franchise, Bridget Jones, Bridget Jones: The Fringe of Purpose and Bridget Jones’s Child spent all that point increase probably the most stable romance potential between the pair, overcoming the lies of the dastardly Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) and the charms of Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey) to realize an endgame that so many people dream of.
I really feel extraordinarily shallow saying this, however to kill Mark off appears like an insult to that completely crafted story. I utterly settle for that Fielding is difficult our views of what a contented ending appears like, and a few could need to see how that unfolds – however proper now I can’t really feel excited for a story that’s assured to make me unhappy. Many readers of the sequence agreed, as proven by this BBC piece from 2013.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the fourth Bridget Jones. Daniel Cleaver is again on the scene – he was absent from the third film as Hugh Grant had filming conflicts as a result of Paddington 2 (and honest sufficient, he was good in that).
We’ll additionally see the return of her supportive and sometimes scathing buddies, Shazzer, Jude and Tom, her nosey mom and cheeky father, and the straight-talking Dr. Rawlings, performed by the good Emma Thompson. And naturally, Mark Darcy will nonetheless be in it – however I assume primarily by means of flashbacks and figments of Bridget’s energetic creativeness.
If that ticks all of your containers, then all the ability to you. Mad In regards to the Boy will debut on US streaming platform Peacock on 13 February 2025, although it gained’t be getting a cinematic launch within the States. Nonetheless, moviegoers internationally (together with within the UK) will have the ability to see it on the large display screen from 14 February – Valentine’s Day.
As for me, I’ll be watching the primary three movies on repeat over the festive interval, however it’s going to take some convincing for me to simply accept a Bridget Jones world with out her Mark in it.
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