‘Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy’ Review: Sometimes A Franchise Ending Isn’t Such A Bad Thing

I remember when I first saw Bridget Jones’s Diary on a movie screen. She was this character that I could relate to, one that felt like the person that I wanted to be. She was a character that was filled with insecurity and doubt but found a way to own herself. Bridget Jones has been an inspiring, relatable, and dream-driven soul. Bridget Jones’s Diary changed my life in a way.

That’s what movies are supposed to do – allow an escape or fill you with inspiration.

With the last Bridget Jones movie, I had the honor of being invited to a breakfast with Renee Zelwegger. I remember being so nervous, because Renee Zelwegger stood there, reaching her arms out and hugging me. I looked at her and told her that this character had seen me through some pretty hard times. She also inspired me to write and embrace my dreams.

It feels like over a large part of my life, Bridget Jones has been there. So heading into this movie, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, I was a little apprehensive. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to a character that I love. Yet, as I lay down and watched this movie, I realized that it wasn’t saying goodbye. It was seeing her come full circle.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy doesn’t take that for granted. Instead, it shows that you can grow and still remain the same – filled with love and light. You can be a hot mess and in search of finding your way at any age. What I didn’t expect was that I would spend the majority of this movie crying my eyes out. But here I am, eyes puffy and all.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is a movie about getting older and what that can mean. It’s a love story and it’s a coming-of-age story. Because yes, you can still come of age in your 40’s. It is a movie that you want to watch and send Bridget a brush. But most of all, it’s a story about being yourself, because everyone else is already taken.

It is almost impossible to not love Bridget Jones because she is in all of us.

Bridget Jones, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, and Bridget Jones’s Baby are all great movies. Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy follows them with grace, and understanding, and still manages to live strongly on its own. It just also manages, right from the beginning to break you, as we find out that Mark Darcy has been dead for several years.

If you are a fan of the franchise and love its characters – you know and understand why Darcy being gone is heartbreaking. Every time that he shows up in the movie, there is a part of you that breaks for Bridget and partly for his children. But in the beginning, when we find out he’s been gone a bit and how everyone is on Bridget to date again, that really broke me. You can’t help but see that Darcy and Bridget really loved each other.

We get to see the return of Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver, who has become like family to Bridget. He’s the kid’s favorite babysitter and they are excited when he shows up. He’s still the skirt-chasing man he was.

The closeness that he and Bridget have gained is something that feels natural and special. They are still the same and still influence each other in a way that feels like two besties moving on with their lives.

Cleaver and all of Bridget’s friends think she needs to get out. One even goes as far as to sign Bridget up for a dating app. It’s within hours of this that she meets the first man who turns her head, Roxster (Leo Woodall). We can see why she finds him attractive, as we do too.

Throughout the next act of the show, we see Bridget pulling herself together with the help of a nanny at home, and Roxster wherever/whenever she can. The two are making each other happy when suddenly Roxster ghosts Bridget. The age difference didn’t bother me at all. What does, is the character of Roxster – as he takes for granted that his disappearing affects Bridget, but also her children.

As Bridget is pulling herself together and dealing with her grief, we find her interacting with her kid’s teacher, Mr. Wallaker a lot. Mr. Wallaker seems to not like Bridget at all. He’s a quiet, focused man and she’s got a personality that is larger than life.

It’s as Mr. Wallaker and Bridget grow closer that you find yourself happy for her and also saddened. Bridget is moving forward and working through her grief. Watching this movie you can’t help but cry, laugh, and scream. One of the most beautiful things about this movie is the road Mr. Wallaker and Bridget take. The evolution of them learning to like each other leads to them falling for each other.

Some may think that Bridget was just too sad all the time. I didn’t see it that way. I saw a story of pulling yourself out of grief and learning to live again. There wasn’t a moment that I wasn’t rooting for the Darcy family and appreciative that Bridget (Rene Zellweger) wasn’t apologizing for who she was, rather was embracing it. Bridget went through all of the stages of grief and to this movie’s credit – they showed that each stage, each relationship, and each heartbreak meant something. She needed all of the chaos in her life to start her down the road to healing for herself and then for her kids.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy felt like coming home to a character that loved all of us through the good and bad times. It accomplished the goal of being relatable and inspiring. Bridget Jones felt like coming home. She may be a little older and a little wiser, but it’s a place where I felt I belonged.

And that’s something this writer can be thankful for.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is available to stream on Peacock.