Renee Zellweger plays the weight conscious, orally self-indulgent Bridget with a fairly convincing British accent. Bridget works in a publishing house where she`s in lust with her boss, the swinishly attractive Daniel Cleaver, Hugh Grant. Her mini-skirt initiates a flurry of suggestive emails leading to a date. But Daniel`s not really a one-woman man which Bridget discovers to her cost. Hovering on the edge of her social life is Marcus Darcy, Colin Firth, the son of a friend of her parents Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones. He`s terribly eligible but Bridget thinks he`s a dork. And on top of everything else she has to cope with her mother suddenly opting for life with another man and a career in television. It`s very confusing and depressing but Bridget, like any sensible girl these days has friends.
Inspired by Jane Austen`s Pride and Prejudice - casting Colin Firth as Darcy was a cheeky bit of business, The film was directed by Helen Fielding`s best friend, Sharon Maguire - the Shazza character in the book and the film. Maguire gets a terrific performance from Zellweger and exploits the caddish presence of Grant which Woody Allen used to his advantage in Small Time Crooks. Colin Firth does Darcy well again. It`s fun, it`s insightful and despite feminists tearing their hair out at Bridget`s myopic world view she`s not a doormat.
