It is the fourth go round for Helen Fielding’s creation, following 2016’s excellent Bridget Jones’ Baby. Bridget (Renee Zelwegger) is now in her 50’s, widowed following the death of Mark Darcy, with two kids. Her life is still a bit of a mess and she has not dated since Mark passed away. Things change when she meets a carefree hunky young park ranger, Roxster (Leo Woodall) and a seemingly uptight science teacher at her son’s school, Mr Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor).
Whilst it has many amusing moments, this instalment does not have the belly laughs of the previous film in the series. It does though, have plenty of heart, and, especially for those of us who feel connected to the franchise, some very moving moments. Zelwegger is indelibly linked to the part by now and Ejiofor comes across as her perfect match.
It did, at times, feel like characters from the earlier films were shoe-horned into the story for no good reason, but I found it hard to begrudge that as it was a pleasure seeing the likes of Sally Phillips, Gemma Jones and especially Emma Thompson, who once again is a scene stealer. Best of all, however, is Hugh Grant reprisal of his role as Daniel Cleaver who is older, a little wiser but just as big a lothario as before. He improvised much of his dialogue and it was a joy every time he appeared.
Zelwegger has said that she is open to another outing as Bridget, but this feels like a perfect ending to a special story.
Rating: 8 out of 10