Rainy Day Movie - Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

It was a cold evening and the only thing I wanted to do was to curl up under my warm blanket and allow myself to bask in television's warming glow. It was one of those evenings that all I wanted to do was watch whatever mindless television show was on that night. As I flipped aimlessly through the stations, I came across the opening credits of a movie. What movie? I had no idea but I figured I would wait until the title flashed on screen at which point I would determine whether I would continue watching or crawl out of bed and pop in a DVD.

Well, the title flashed on screen...it was Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. I have to admit, I was a little upset I had waited all of three minutes just to see the title of a movie that I really did not care to see and where the main actress is unfortunately strange looking. But...I decided to watch this movie. Why, you ask? Well...it was just too damn far to walk to my DVD rack and pick something else out. I was too warm and toasty under my blankets. And I guess, I'd rather watch this than 1 vs. 100.

I have seen the first Bridget Jones movie a few years ago. Actually, it was a long while ago but I still had some idea of what to expect. I have to admit, although I may not want to, that I was a little amused by the first one. It made me chuckle and I could see why the book was made into a movie. What I did not expect, was The Edge of Reason to be a boring and watered down version of its predecessor.

SPOILER ALERT! At this point I'm sure you've seen the movie but if you are planning on seeing, DO NOT READ AHEAD!

We have the return of, of course, Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones. Hugh Grant and Colin Firth return as well, as the love interests for Bridget Jones, Daniel Cleaver and Mark Darcy, respectively. The movie takes the first 10 minutes or so showcasing Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy together and how great their relationship is. It's all cuddling, sex, and saying things like, "I miss you" and actually mean it. That's right, they were in Phase 1 of their relationship. Of course, Bridget's friends have a tendency to hate anything that makes her remotely happy and Bridget because that means they're not happy so, they convince Bridget that Mark's long hours have nothing to do with work but perhaps an affair.

So, begins Phase 2 -- the jealousy, the constant bickering and misunderstandings. I was getting extremely annoyed of Bridget because she would not let Mark allow himself to explain anything but instead made rash decisions leaving Mark with the short end of the stick. Anyone who has seen any romantic chick flick movie understands that the misunderstandings and jealousy are essentially, what make up the meat of any romantic comedy. However, this movie did not execute these characteristics as seamlessly as I would liked. Perhaps because the movie is barely two hours long I felt everything was rushed in the movie. I mean, I was watching it on television which means I was dealing with commercials as well! It was stretched out to about 2 and a half hours, I believe. In any case, I could not get into the plot at all, and many of the occurences in the movie were just so forced. I can believe Bridget getting locked up in an all women jail in Thailand but for some reason, the way it happened was so...bleh. Yes, I know this was a fictional story and I am not asking for everything to be believeable -- but you've got to hover around the ballpark somewhere too.

In any case, Bridget "mucks" things up with Mark, needless to say and somehow finds herself in the arms of the sex addicted Daniel Cleaver. Why does it seem like Hugh Grant is exceptionally well versed at being a manipulative, deceiving man woos Bridget again only for sex? Hmm...that's another story altogether, I guess. In any event, Bridget realized this revelation about Daniel, again, and is rescued by Mark from the Thailand jail. As she finally heads home, she realized that Mark went out of his way in every sense of the phrase to rescue her. Now she realizes, he is in fact her true love. Also, it helped that the girl she thought Mark was having an affair with, Rebecca, turned out to be a lesbian. The predictable lesbian kiss Bridget and Rebecca share towards the end of the movie did not have any kind of wow factor for me. Maybe because the lesbian kiss has been done so many times it's lost its shock value. Or, maybe it's because I am a heterosexual female. Is anyone else in agreement with me that Rebecca's feelings for Bridget were not played out very well? I know the director probably did not want it to seem so obvious so that it would be a surprise at the end, but it just seemed so far fetched. When Rebecca's sexual orientation and feelings for Bridget were revealed, I was more happy that Bridget could finally stop being an idiot and make things right with Mark.

Of course, the movie ended with Bridget and Mark getting back together. The only part I thought was good in the movie was when Mark confronted Daniel about him pursuing Bridget. It was the only time there was any type of emotion coming from Mark's character. I was starting to wonder why he even cared for Bridget because he never once seemed to show anything for her.

Oh, and one more thing -- it was extremely annoying to have one song after the other from the TRL countdown in this movie. I can't remember what songs were popular during the filming of this movie and I understand a movie has to have a soundtrack but as soon as one MTV song was over, another one began! It became almost a little distracting and I found myself wondering what the actual soundtrack release for this movie was cluttered with. Not a nice touch, I'd have to say.

So, yet again, I sat through another so-so movie only to realize, this was a great rainy day movie. I will never see this movie again and I guess that's why it's part of my Rainy Day movie collection.

Stay tuned for more Rainy Day reviews -- because everyone can use a rainy day!