Bridget Jones’s Diary Review
viewed February 22.13 for the
Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge
Today I found a vhs copy of Bridget Jones’s Diary at my nearest charity
shop. At .25 I was not leaving it there
for another minute! I was aware this was
a take on Jane Austen’s P&P, and not having watched this movie in years, I
thought I’d watch it with an eye open to catch any comparisons. I wasn’t disappointed.
Bridget
opens the movie quoting JA’s famous P&P opening line, but as is relevant to this
story,
“It’s a truth universally acknowledged that the moment when one
area of your life starts going ok, another part of it falls spectacularly to
pieces.”
Whilst
still in the opening Christmas Party scene, we see Mark Darcy and his mum discussing
Bridget. Mum encouraging, Mark Darcy
verbally disparaging, as Bridget is, at that moment, scooping up her turkey
curry from the buffet and clearly over hearing
their conversation
[ala Bingley and Darcy].
Bridget
receives an unsettling call from her mum, describing her own life after so many
years of marriage, as powerless, having
nothing of her own, without a career.
Seemingly, not much has changed in the 200 years since JA shared her
same social commentary via Mrs Bennet !
At her employer’s book launch party, Bridget muffs the intro for the book.
Darcy excuses himself from a convo, intending to address Bridget, when he is
intercepted by Wickham {aka Daniel Cleaver} Bridget’s boss. Just so, Wickham with his 'pleasing manner' had made the earlier
relational connection with Lizzie and the Bennet girls in Meryton. Daniel questions her relationship with Mark
Darcy, then takes the opportunity to cast a shadow on Darcy’s character as the
cause of the marital breakdown that separated them as friends.
Sounding more and more like Wickham!
Having
begun a relationship with Daniel Cleaver, they take a weekend mini break,
travelling in his top-down convertible.
Bridget arrives at the gorgeous hotel in fine fettle – hair windblown
into a haystack, red windburnt face – and who’s stepping down the stairs into
the lobby? Mark Darcy! with his ever
present work peer, Natasha, the quintessential Caroline Bingley. No, not six inches of mud on Bridget’s hems,
but the same effect and response in this modern adaptation!
{Would have loved to find a picture of it !}
After breaking
up with Daniel following his deceit regarding sexual involvement with another
woman, Bridget has the annual couples’ dinner to attend, as a single. Who just happens to be there? Of course. Mark Darcy, once again, with Natasha.
The crowd takes pleasure in haranguing
Bridget on her singleness. She is making
her departure when Darcy follows her to the door. Taking full advantage of this one on one, she
expresses her exasperation at him pointing out her idiocy every time he sees
her; she already knows she is one without need of him adding to her inner
litany.
He denies even thinking she’s an
idiot at all, but in a speech reminiscent of the original Darcy, he continues, “though
there are elements of the ridiculous about you, your mother’s pretty
interesting, you let whatever’s in your head come out your mouth without
consideration of consequences” then apologizes for being unforgivably rude at
the turkey curry buffet. Darcy follows
this with the now famous, “I realized when I met you, perhaps despite
appearances, I like you. I really like
you. Just the way you are.”
Unfortunately,
further interaction is cut as Caroline, I mean Natasha, approaches, snapping
her fingers at Darcy to rejoin the couples in discussion. Bridget is taken aback at her mannerism,
while Darcy takes his cue and follows the retreating Natasha.
Bridget’s
friends are disbelieving at her confession of being liked by Darcy, “just the
way you are”, commenting “this is someone that you hate right?”
Bennets redux of Mr Darcy coming to call
with Bingley!
Darcy
arrives unannounced at Bridget’s, the night of her 33rd birthday
dinner, ending up in the kitchen cooking alongside her and her dismal ‘blue
string’ soup. Her friends are delighted
to make his acquaintance until an uninvited appearance of Daniel interrupts the
festivities. He selfishly takes Bridget
aside to confess his desires while ignoring hers. Darcy calls him out, at last, to deal with
their longstanding conflict in a well acted fight scene, ending up laying
Daniel out cold on the front street.
Bridget accuses Darcy of giving the impression of being all moral,
normal and noble, yet thus, mistreating his former friend, Daniel. She still erroneously believes Darcy is the
one who has wronged Daniel by causing his marriage breakup [ala Wickham and his
lies]... Yet when Daniel revives, he
suggests they go back up to her party, that they were ‘meant for each other’
and that” if I can’t make it with you, I can’t make it with anyone”.
Thankfully,
the light is dawning for our protagonist who responds, “that’s not good enough
for me. I’m not willing to gamble my
whole life on someone who’s not quite sure.”
She finally recognizes she is looking for more than what Daniel Cleaver
has to offer; as Elizabeth recognized
the same in Wickham’s profligate ways.
Attraction was not enough.
A year has now rolled past and we gain another reference to the original P&P when Bridget is home with her father for Christmas.
In low spirits at the loss of his wife’s presence, the door opens and
she walks in, suitcase in hand. As the
two talk, Mrs Jones speaks out her feelings regarding the husband and
Bridget’s’ grown up club of two’, always making fun of the mum. “What’s silly
old mummy gone and done this time?” Very
much the sense we have of Mr Bennet and daughter Lizzie throughout the story.
Thankfully , this one ends in reconciliation for all.
As the
Jones family prepares to attend the annual Christmas party, this year hosted by
the Darcy family, Bridget is being cajoled to hurry along. She is appreciably reluctant, until her
mother tells the truth of the story about which Bridget has been misled. The revelation has her racing to the party in
order to let Darcy know her true ‘liking’ for him just as he is, now that she
knows the truth. He’s taken aback and
rightly enough which we come to understand when his father announces that
son Darcy’s been called to a law practice in NY.
Not only that, he’s taking Natasha as his law
partner whom the Darcys are expecting to become an 'in-law of another sort in
days ahead'. Mark Darcy himself looks stunned
at that announcement, and there’s a typical Caroline Bingley response that
she’d told the Darcys not to mention that part...
This movie
included many well done P&P parallels, which were caught by intentionally watching for the similarities. I will definitely look forward to another
viewing {now that I own a copy}! I do
have to make note of the language as being not
JA in style or tone. This adaptation is
of a contemporary setting, which should help prepare the unsuspecting viewer
both for language and sexual references and situations.
I won’t
spoil the ending for anyone who hasn’t viewed it as yet. Suffice it to say, the conclusion is entirely
satisfying right from the unexpected panic of one tiny plot twist
until the
credits begin to roll.
.jpg)
