BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY (2001) (***1/2)
Helen Fielding adapts her own novel, which was inspired by Jane Austen's PRIDE & PREJUDICE. I guess in some way all love stories since Jane Austen have been influenced by Jane Austen. Some fans of Fielding's book grumbled when hot American starlet Renee Zellweger was cast in the very British role. But she truly makes the character her own. She becomes Bridget Jones and we love her for it.
Zellweger plays the chucky British gal, who is desperately looking for Mr. Right, with pluck and no shame. Bridget makes a New Year's resolution that she will get her life into order through moderation. Less smoking, less drinking, less eating, more snogging. Zellweger is wonderfully backed up by Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. Grant plays her dashing co-worker Daniel Cleaver, who we know from the start is a cad; but it's Hugh Grant so he's too charming to ignore. Bridget meets Firth's Mark Darcy at a Christmas party, one in which he so desperately wants to leave. He seems like a boring snob, so we know Bridget is destined to be with him, because you shouldn't judge a book by its hideous Christmas sweater, and if you know Austen then you know his last name is a clue.
