Rating- * * (2/5)
Speaking of empty, this one was, at the time I saw it, the winner of my award for the longest movie with the least amount of content in it. Of course, as soon as I saw Pearl Harbor the award quickly changed hands. Fortunately, not all of the awards were taken away. Bridget Jones’ Diary does retain the award for the most uses of the word “f___” (use your imagination) not just for the year but possibly for all time. Let me take this opportunity to talk about my feelings about profanity in movies. I think profanity can actually be used purposefully in a film to establish an uncivilized tone to a character or setting. This is exemplified best in films like Boogie Nights or Good Will Hunting where the characters are notably uncivilized and low class. Profanity can also be used to establish a sense of intensity in a character. A good example of this is in Magnolia where almost all the characters (and there’s a lot of them) do a good bit of swearing because they are all under enormous pressure in their lives. It is not, I believe, acceptable to have your characters swear every other word because you think it’s funny or because it’s relaying what the director perceives as “realism.” So now that that’s out of the way, I would like to say that the acting is actually pretty good for a romantic comedy. Renee Zellweger and Hugh Grant both do wonderful jobs at playing somewhat limited characters. Zellweger plays an overweight, self-conscious, chain-smoking British woman who falls in love with her boss (Grant). Grant’s character is the typical “first guy” from a romantic comedy. The “first guy” is the guy who seems like the perfect guy and never shows any faults until one day when he cheats on the hero. Then comes the “second guy” the guy who seemed liked a jerk once but who is actually the nice guy. He of course gets in a fight and beats up the first guy, who as it turns out fights like a girl, and then second guy and hero girl live happily ever after. Don’t get me wrong, I actually have nothing against romantic comedies. What I mean is, I can appreciate a well-written, well-acted, well-executed romance as much as any film lover. But needless to say, this is no Casablanca. So in conclusion, Bridget Jones’ Diary is another example of the excesses and successes of 2001. Good acting and, at the core, a decent plot, but far too many useless characters, unneeded story elements, and overdependence on superficial elements. If you’ve seen every other romantic comedy at the video rental store and if you don’t mind hearing the word “f___” a thousand times, then and only then should you think about picking this one up.