Bridget Jones’s Diary is still after all these years, 10 to be exact, is a great British comedy with three fine performances. The Blu-ray itself is decent enough with good video and audio transfers and all the features from the DVD were ported over so anyone thinking of upgrading will not miss anything.
Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Comedy, Romance
Lionsgate | R – 98 min. – $19.99 | July 19, 2011
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Sharon Maguire
Writer(s): Helen Fielding (novel); Helen Fielding and Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis (screenplay)
Cast: Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant
Theatrical Release Date: April 13, 2001
DISC INFO:
Features: Commentary, 4 Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, TV Spots
Number of Discs: 1
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 2.35
Subtitles: English SDH, English, Spanish
Region(s): A
THE MOVIE – 3.75/5
Plot Synopsis: Bridget (RENEE ZELLWEGER), a busy career woman, decides to turn over a new page in her life by channeling her thoughts, opinions and insecurities into a journal that becomes a chronicle of her adventures. Soon she becomes the center of attention between a guy who’s too good to be true (HUGH GRANT) and another who’s so wrong for her, he could be just right (COLIN FIRTH).
After a couple decent performances following a breakout role in Jerry Maguire, Renee Zellweger delivered another great performance in Bridget Jones’s Diary, based upon the novel of the same name by Helen Fielding. The movie itself isn’t all that special, in fact it’s a fairly ordinary when it comes to character dramas, but thanks to Zellweger, it becomes a film that is just as funny today as it was when I first watched it back in the 2002 or 2003.
The film also succeeds when it comes to the supporting cast with Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. Like most romantic comedies, you have the main character grappling with two choices: the one guy she initially wants to be with (often a womanizer or jerk) and the one she should, and will, be with (the nice guy with some loveable character flaws). It’s no different here but thanks to both Firth and Grant, they at least provide some fun comedy to their roles and make the film all that more enjoyable.
Bridget Jones’s Diary was directed by Sharon Maguire whose only other directing credit since was 2008’s dramatic thriller, Incendiary starring Michelle Williams and Ewan McGregor. The film was adapted by “Bridget Jones” author Fielding – who also served as producer –, Andrew Davies (upcoming Three Musketeers film) and Richard Curtis (War Horse).
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.5/5
All the features from the DVD have been ported over.
Audio Commentary – Director Sharon Maguire sits down for an informative, though pretty basic, commentary track. After chatting about the studio logos, she goes into some insights into directing the adaptation, casting and conversations with Zellweger and the challenges. It’s not a great track as there are several silent spots, but not too bad, although she probably could’ve done with somebody else in the booth with her.
The Young and the Mateless (An Expert’s Guide to Being Single) (8:14; SD) – The featurette covers the difficulty for dating and for women to find a suitable mate. Women in a various careers, (writer/producer of “Sex and the City”, author of books, etc) talk about the influence of Bridget Jones’s Diary.
The Bridget Phenomenon (6:36; SD) toughly covers the same ground but goes more into the actual novel, how it was conceived, and developed into a major motion picture, than the idea behind it (i.e. single women). It features basic sound bites with the cast and crew.
Behind-the-Scenes Featurette (9:38; SD) – So basic of a featurette, they didn’t even bother coming up with a clever name. Here we get some BTS footage, cast/crew comments and such about working on the film and with each other.
Portrait of an Artist (5:04; SD) featurette is about the make-up artist on the film and the job it entails.
Deleted Scenes (11:54; SD) is a collection of 7 scenes removed for different reasons, most of which is probably for pacing issues.
A Guide to Bridget Britishisms (2:21; SD) covers the various British terms used in the movie for us Yanks to understand what the hell these foreigners were actually saying. It’s really unnecessary.
Previews – New in Town, Everything Must Go, The Switch, I Love You Philip Morris, Immigration Tango
VIDEO – 4.0/5
Bridget Jones’s Diary is presented in its original 2.35 aspect ratio and now on Blu-ray with a 1080p high-def transfer. The picture looks pretty good in HD and though at times it’s not exactly smooth appearing splotchy in spots, it’s still a good upgrade over the DVD version. The detail level is also very good throughout and there is fine amount of natural film grain as well.
AUDIO – 4.25/5
The disc features a strong DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. Dialogue levels are crisp and clear but it’s the variety of music and Patrick Doyle’s score which provides the depth to the lossless track.
OVERALL – 3.5/5
Overall, Bridget Jones’s Diary is still after all these years, 10 to be exact, is a great British comedy with three fine performances. The Blu-ray itself is decent enough with good video and audio transfers and all the features from the DVD were ported over so anyone thinking of upgrading will not miss anything. Given it is a catalogue title, I venture you’ll be able to nab this for $10 or less and at that price point it’s worth picking up.
The Movieman
Published: 07/28/2011
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