Come the Fuck On Bridget!

Make it stand out

This year marks 20 years since the release of Bridget Jones’ Diary, a film about a 30-something-year-old woman and her daily struggles with love, work and weight, based on the column and book by writer Helen Fielding.

My first introduction to Bridget was in a cinema in my hometown, a small island in Essex, about an hour outside London. I started with the sequel — The Edge of Reason. I was twelve years old, and this was my review: It’s over the top. American actress Renee Zellweger’s accent as the protagonist, British Bridget Jones, wasn’t believable. I wasn’t going to be a fan. 

I was right about one thing; The Edge of Reason is too much. 

I was slightly wrong about the accent. It’s a great posh British accent. It wasn’t believable to a 12-year-old me because I didn’t know a single person who spoke like that. All of the accents I heard were estuary or cockney, where you drop the t’s and k’s, soften the ‘r’. That wasn’t how Bridget sounded. 

And I was totally wrong about not being a fan.

 ___STEADY_PAYWALL___

I don’t remember the first time I saw the original - and best - film. But I do remember that growing older, becoming a woman, I simply came to understand and love Bridget. I gained weight, I started smoking and drinking, I dated boys. I distinctly remember a school friend had copied the quote, “I will not fall for any of the following: alcoholics, workaholics, commitment phobics, people with girlfriends or wives, misogynists, megalomaniacs, chauvinists, emotional fuckwits or freeloaders, perverts” on to her Facebook wall. I thought it was hilarious. 

Though Bridget’s accent was still nothing like mine, I started to realise she and I had more in common than I first gave her credit for. By the time I was 18, I’d watched the film enough times to memorise it by heart.

Today, Bridget still has a relatable appeal, though there are not-so-subtle elements that jar with modern audiences. Bridget being called ‘fat’ at 9 and a half stone has truly scarred me and many other women. I decided to rewatch the film as an adult to decide the great bits and the bits we can forget.

The Annual Turkey Curry Buffet

It’s New Year’s Day, and we see Bridget arrive at her parent’s house for her mother’s ‘Annual Turkey Curry Buffet.’ It sets the scene for the rest of the story; Bridget meets Colin Firth’s Mark Darcy for the first time, he berates her, and she vows to start a diary. 

There are some genuinely funny moments; her mother’s nostalgia for 70’s dinner accoutrements like mini gherkins and doilies, Bridget’s outfit as picked by her mother (“I was wearing a carpet”), her attempt at impressing Mark (“I wish I could be lying with my head in a toilet like all normal people”).

But it’s hard to ignore the racist remark from Bridget’s mum about Mark’s Japanese ex-wife. The scene is only slightly saved by the mockery in which we view pervy Uncle Geoffrey. Pervy men should be mocked more in films. 2/10

Mr Tits Pervert

Speaking of mocking pervy men, here we are again, this time with Mr Fitzherbert, “or Mr Tits Pervert more like''. For a film from the early ’00s, it’s a refreshingly cynical take on workplace sexual harassment. 7/10

More vodka? Fill Her Up Goddammit!

I love this scene for the pure unbridled nostalgia. It’s the first time we see Bridget with her pals -  it's the early 00s, and they are sharing a huge bowl of guacamole, tortilla chips and a bottle of Absolut vodka. Craig David is playing in the background, and Bridget’s mate Tom is picking a phone case to put on his Nokia 3310. 10/10

“Though Bridget’s accent was still nothing like mine, I started to realise she and I had more in common than I first gave her credit for. By the time I was 18, I’d watched the film enough times to memorise it by heart.”

P.S. Like Your Tits in that Top.

Another dose of early noughties nostalgia. MSN. More specifically, Bridget and Daniel Cleaver (played by Hugh Grant) flirt using Microsoft’s messaging medium similarly used by flirting teens the world over in the 00s. 7/10 

No Pressure, but Your Whole Future Happiness Depends on How You Behave this One Night.

After the book launch, Bridget secures a date with Daniel (which amazingly features cameos from both Lord Archer and Salman Rushdie). She meets with her friends again, and they give some hilariously bad advice on how to behave; “circulate, oozing intelligence”. We then see Bridge prepping for the big night, pulling on those infamous big knickers. Watching this scene in 2021, when shapewear has been made cool by Kim Kardashian, Bridget trying on her knickers doesn’t pack the same punch it did in 2001. 6/10

This Can’t Be Just Shagging, a Mini Break Means True Love.

Whatever happened to the word ‘shag’? Anyway, in this scene, we’re on a mini-break with Bridge and Daniel. Daniel recites a limerick to Bridget, and it is still genuinely funny. 

But what I’ve always wanted to know, later in bed, post-shag, what is it Bridget and Daniel are talking about? Clues; it’s illegal in certain countries, and Bridget needs to turn over and bite down hard on something... We love a cheeky anal reference. Go Bridge! 9/10

The Almondbury’s Tarts and Vicars Party.

Nope. No to this. Bridget turning up to this party in a Playboy bunny outfit full of old snobs is high-key humiliating. It hurts so much more because in the next scene, we find out Daniel is cheating — and that killer line “I thought you said she was thin” is delivered by his new fiance. The only highlight of this party is poor Bernard hiding because he was dressed as the pope. -100/10

I Choose Vodka. And Chaka Khan.

A makeover montage, but for the soul. Getting pissed on Absolut Vodka and dancing to Chaka Khan is how all life’s problems should be solved. It’s so refreshing to see that her appearance doesn’t change with this makeover. Instead, she throws out all her toxic self-help books, stops smoking, and gets a glam new job. 11/10

A fight, a Real fight.

This scene gets lauded as one of the funniest in the film because Hugh Grant and Colin Firth *improvised* it. It’s overindulgent. I’d much rather have had more screen time from Bridget and her pals observing the fight. Tom’s line “It’s a fight, a REAL fight” is my only highlight, alongside Geri Halliwell's cover of Its Raining Men (obvs.) 3/10

Come the Fuck on, Bridget!

The best line in the film, perfectly delivered by Tom, who is the true hero of this film. 100/10

A recurring theme in the film is to love someone ‘just as they are’. Mark says it to Bridget, Bridget says it to Mark, Bridget’s friends say it as a toast on Bridget’s birthday. Twenty years on, we can see the flaws in the film but still appreciate its humour, its warmth and its courage, and just like Bridget, love it just as it is.

Words: Chelsea Carter | Illustrations: Lily Blakely