BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOYS
(director: Michael Morris; screenwriter: based on the novel by Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer, Abi Morgan; cinematographer: Suzie Lavelle; editor: Mark Day; music: Dustin O’Halloran; cast: Renee Zellweger (Bridget), Colin Firth (Mark Darcy), Casper Knopf (Billy), Mila Jankovie (Mabel), Hugh Grant (Daniel Cleaver), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Scott Williker), Leo Woodall (Roxter McDuff), Jim Broadbent (Colin Jones, Bridget’s dad), Gemme Jones (Pamela Jones, Bridget’s mom), Emma Thompson (gynecologist), Isla Fisher (Rebecca, next door neighbor), Sally Phillips (Shazzer), Shirley Henderson (Jude), James Callis (Tom), Sarah Solemani (Miranda), Josette Simon (Talitha); Runtime: 124; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Feliner, Jo Wallett; Universal/Miramax/Peacock; 2025-UK/USA/France)
“A rather blah film.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The fourth film in the franchise, nine years after the last film, is in the hands of Brit director Michael Morris (“To Leslie”), who bases it on the novel by Helen Fielding. It’s co-written by Dan Mazer and Abi Morgan.
The sequel picks up four years after the death of Bridget’s husband in the war zone in Sudan while on a humanitarian mission as an activist lawyer. The fifty-ish Bridget now lives in a beautiful house in North London’s Hampstead with her preteen kids: the introverted 10-year-old son Billy (Casper Knopf) and her 6-year-old daughter Mabel (Mila Jankovie), who eyes all the men in Bridget’s circle as potential dads. Bridget is sometimes helped raising her family by her snarky ex Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), who is called uncle.
Bridget gets her old job back as a producer for Brit TV. When friends (Sarah Solemani, Shirley Henderson, Sally Phillips, James Callis) urge her to date again, she meets through Tinder the charming 20-something park ranger Roxter (Leo Woodall). She then meets Mabel’s prep school teacher Mr. Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and goes with him on a student week-end camping trip to the Lake District. Thereby she now has her pick of two possible suitors.
This was a rather blah film, where the material was thin and the actors just seemed to be going through the motions.
REVIEWED ON 4/16/2025 GRADE: C+
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