Movie Review: Bridget Jones' Diary

Story: I know I am going to get lots of mail on this one, but here goes - I HATED this movie! Based on the novel by Helen Fielding (bought the book but could not read more than ten pages), 32 year old Bridget Jones gets a diary, vows to lose weight, stop drinking and smoking and above all - get a man. The film takes place over a one year period of time (it seemed much longer). Directed by Sharon Maguire, this episodic insipid portrayal of a young woman's struggle was truly lifeless. I did not like or believe any of the characters. At one point I turned to movie pal Mark and said This is painful to watch! - He heartily agreed. Yes, there are a few laughs but the predictability level (see new category below) was off the scale and each and every character was stereotypical and cartoon-like. Now that I think of it, perhaps animation or claymation would have been a better choice for bringing this book to the big screen. The film is a throwback to the awful girl gets boy films of a generation ago. I am terribly disappointed. I thought we had outgrown those insulting times. Apparently not!

Acting: If you were on another planet you probably don't know that Renee Zellweger (remember when actors changed their names before they became stars)? gained 20 pounds for this role. The marketing barrage depicts her as obese. She actually looks like a normal woman and this was another sad statement relentlessly made about our be thin, anorexic, obsessed society. Anyway, Zellweger was fine in the role -- she just is an awful character and I really did not care what happened to her. Hugh Grant, as the cad was better than usual. He did not pfumpher and stammer as usually seen. Colin Firth, as the 'other' guy must have had his jaw crazy glued shut. He never changed his expression the entire film. Ugh!

Critters: None.

Food: Lots of bad English food and one incredibly stupid scene in Bridget's kitchen where she tries to cook a meal for her friends.

Visual Art: Lots of funny bad art in her parent's home.

Blatant Product Placement: None - maybe no corporation wanted to put their money into this bad film.

Soundtrack: I HATE when a soundtrack is substituted for acting and emotions. The songs used in this film hammered us with how the characters and 'we' were supposed to feel at the end of each episode.

Opening Titles: Cutesy

Theater Audience: Fairly crowded with 20 and 30 something's - male and female.

Sappy Factor: 7

Squirm Scale: I squirmed only from embarrassment at this bad film.

Predictability Level: New Category - Scored as a high, medium, low or surprised level. This one rated high on the seen it before scale.

Oscar Worthy: Ha!

Nit Picking: It was filmed in a very amateurish way. I had feelings of claustrophobia for most of the film. They used very annoying close-ups most of the time.

Big Screen or Rental: Neither.

Length: 110 minutes (seemed longer).

LOBO HOWLS: 2