Bridget Jones is Back

Why?

Greetings FilmFreaks! Yep, Renee Zellweger brushes up on her British accent and gets her big girl pants on for yet another outing as Bridget Jones, number 4 in fact. I watched it so you don’t have to but I know you will anyway ;)

Before I dive in CONGRATS yet again to Wētā FX after another phenomenal week of awards seasons accolades! An Annie for Kingdom of Planet of the Apes and the top award from their peers at the VES Awards (Visual Effects Society)! Their work on both Better Man and Alien: Romulus were also honoured. All three films are nominated for Oscars.

Speaking of Oscars, final voting is well underway and closes next week on the 18th US time. As we talked about last week - Anora has risen into the favourite spot now amidst all the drama!

NEW RELEASE

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Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Oooooh no it’s ole grumpy bum here about to cast dreaded dispersions on your bestie Bridget Jones and honestly I feel bad about it. I love the legacy of a beloved character returning to unite us all (Maverick we love you!!) and I love that a flawed and funny female character can anchor blockbuster romcoms. But WHY must she be sooooooo ANNOYING.

OK, who’s being annoying now, enough of the big caps already (sorry) but as I bash out this review I’m metaphorically thrust right back into that cinema in the final excruciating minutes remembering the energy it took not to scream at the screen. All the silly breathless disheveled air-headedness of Bridget Jones, including her ridiculous walk, has become a dated caricature and honestly, if you’re a loyal fan, don’t you feel you deserve better?

Of course there is no Jones with romance. And it makes it hard to deliver a fourth (FOURTH!!!) instalment when she’s ended up with her One True Darcy and has settled down with two kids - where’s the fun in that? So - what to do? Lets write him out! Perfect Jones just perfect. Now you’re free to get on tinder and we can revel in your dating mishaps, misdeeds and misters right and wrong.

First up, let’s plunder the now cloying and stale "older woman, younger man" dynamic which definitely had its moment but honestly Hollywood’s insistence on wheeling it out as some kind of revolutionary statement in 2025 is really starting to piss me off. To kick this trope off, let’s cast the pleasingly handsome White Lotus break-out Leo Woodall as the “Boy” in the “Mad About the Boy”. And then let’s empower ourselves with this meet-cute as we watch a grown woman stuck in a tree who can’t rescue herself let alone her kids so a hot young park ranger has to save the goddam day. Look I get it’s all part of the Bridget ethos, we get she’s clumsy and awkward and gets herself into sticky situations and didn’t it used to be endearing? Maybe? Now it’s not. Well not for me anyway.

So while they explore this trope and each other, in the background are some other clichés to keep the home fires burning, solo-mum-two-adorable-kids/chaotic messy household/the hot young nanny/beef at the school gate from nasty know-it-all mum/irritating teacher who becomes less irritating & definitely looks good with shirt off. You know the drill!

Bridget’s classic cohort is back but they’re really barely extras, and of course there’s no Jones without Cleaver, as Hugh Grant rocks up to prey on women a third his age but still makes time for a spot of babysitting here and there.

One thing I will say that may lift my dire review from the doldrums, there is a gentle and certainly rewarding exploration of grief and coming to terms with loss, especially as a parent. There’s much to relate there for many and it was the one thread I engaged with emotionally.

Look I do feel like a party pooper, and I am genuinely sorry and please don’t take it personally! Nothing would please me more to know all you Bridget Jones fans all went anyway and loved it (or at the very least loved leaving the house and going to the movies!). But I was bored, I was under-nourished, and I started questioning my own sanity for a bit there.

THE FEELS: aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh PLEASE MAKE IT STOP

THE HOOK: An opportunity to gather the gals and have a few wines and pretend the movie is better than it is but actually you just love having out with your mates so it’s worth it?

MY LUDICROUSLY CAPACIOUS BAG OF BINGE-A-BILITY

• The White Lotus Season 3 - NeonNZ

  O M G I adore this show! And because I have no self control I couldn’t help myself from bingeing episodes 1-4 of the HBO media screeners I’ve been blessed with ahead of the new season opener next week! But - I’ve managed to STOP myself from plunging into the rest, I really want to watch this show week to week, it’s always worth the wait!! This season we are staying at The White Lotus Koh Samui, and from the get go you’ll feel the lush yet somehow menacing feel of the monkey-filled jungle surrounding the resort villas seeping from the screen. Watch out for fabulous kiwi actor Morgana O’Reilly hitting the Hollywood big-time! And of course alongside an array of well-known faces including Parker Posey and Walton Goggins. First episode lands on Monday on Neon NZ.

GUEST STARRING…

She’s here, she’s there, she’s every f**king where KATE RODGER!

Rolling into 2025 with episode 2 of the New Zealand Film Commission podcast Lights, Camera, Kōrero and we dive into the meaty changes to the funding model and new guidelines just released, so this one is must-listen for any and all kiwi filmmakers and storytellers. Head of Funding Ainsley Gardiner and Film Development Lead Esther Cahill-Chiaroni are the architects of the new funding model and together they share an in-depth “How-To” and an gift us an enormously illuminating insight into the process. Get amongst it!

CLICK HERE: Lights, Camera, Kōrero

THE COMMENTS SECTION

Dive into the comments below or click to Chat - are you incensed at my dissing of your true heroine Bridget Jones? Let loose - I can take it!

Farewell for now FilmFam and remember,

KRxx