Introduction

Bridget Jones's Diary is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Sharon Maguire from a screenplay by Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis. It is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Fielding. The film stars Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones, a 32-year-old British single woman who writes a diary, which focuses on the things she wishes to happen in her life. However, her life changes when two men vie for her affection, portrayed by Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones appear in supporting roles.

Principal photography began in August 2000 and ended in November, and took place largely on location in London and the home counties.

Bridget Jones's Diary premiered at the Empire in London on 10 March 2001 and was released on 13 April simultaneously in the United Kingdom and in the United States. It grossed over $280 million worldwide against a production budget of $25 million and received generally positive reviews from critics, who highlighted Zellweger's titular performance, which garnered her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 74th Academy Awards. Over the years, it has been hailed as part of the English pop culture, with Bridget Jones being cited as a British cultural icon.

The success of the film spawned a Bridget Jones film series, with three sequels being released, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), Bridget Jones's Baby (2016) and Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (2025).

Plot

Bridget Jones is 32, single, engagingly imperfect, and worried about her weight. She works as a publicity assistant at a publishing company in London where her main focus is fantasizing about her boss, Daniel Cleaver.

At her parents' New Year party, Bridget is introduced to Mark Darcy, a childhood acquaintance and handsome barrister, the son of her parents' friends. Mark calls Bridget foolish and vulgar, and she thinks he is arrogant and rude. Overhearing Mark grumble to his mother about her attempt to set him up with "a verbally incontinent spinster who smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish, and dresses like her mother", Bridget forms the New Year's resolution to turn her life around. She begins keeping a diary to chronicle her attempts to stop smoking, stop drinking, lose weight, and find her Mr. Right.

Bridget and Daniel begin to flirt heavily at work, ahead of an important book launch, at which Bridget bumps into Mark and his glamorous and haughty colleague Natasha. Bridget leaves with Daniel and they have dinner, despite Daniel's notorious reputation as a womaniser. Daniel tells Bridget that he and Mark were formerly friends but as Mark slept with his fiancée, they now hate each other. Bridget and Daniel start dating.

Bridget is invited to a family party, originally a "Tarts & Vicars" costume party, so she ties it into a mini-break weekend with Daniel. They spend the day before the party at a country inn where Mark and Natasha are also staying. The morning of the party, Daniel says he must return to London for work and leaves Bridget dressed as a Playboy bunny to endure the party alone. When she returns to London and drops in on Daniel, she discovers his American colleague, Lara, naked in his flat. Bridget cuts ties with him and immediately searches for a new career. She lands a new job in television, and when Daniel pleads with her to stay, she declares that she would "rather have a job wiping Saddam Hussein's arse".

Bridget attends a friend's long-standing dinner party, where she is the only unaccompanied person. Once again she crosses paths with Mark and Natasha. He privately confesses to Bridget that, despite her faults, he likes her "just as you are". Sometime later, he allows Bridget an exclusive TV interview in a landmark legal case which boosts her career and allows her to see him differently.

Bridget begins to develop feelings for Mark, and when she misguidedly and somewhat disastrously attempts to cook her own birthday party dinner, he comes to her rescue. After a happy dinner celebration with Bridget's friends and Mark, a drunken Daniel arrives and temporarily monopolises Bridget's attention. Mark leaves but returns to challenge Daniel and they fight in the street, eventually smashing through a window of a Greek restaurant. The fight eventually ends, with Bridget chiding Mark and he leaving, and after a self-serving appeal from Daniel, she rejects him as well.

Bridget's mother, Pamela, has left Bridget's father Colin and begun an affair with perma-tanned shopping channel presenter Julian. When the affair ends, she returns to the Jones family home and off-handedly reveals that Mark and Daniel's falling-out resulted from Daniel (then Mark's best friend at Cambridge University) sleeping with Mark's wife which Mark walked in on, not the other way around.

At the Darcys' ruby wedding anniversary party the same day, Bridget confesses her feelings for Mark, only to learn that he and Natasha have accepted jobs in New York and are on the verge of an engagement, according to Mark's father. Bridget interrupts the toast with an emotionally moving speech that peters out as she realises the hopelessness of her position. Although her words affect Mark, he still flies to New York. Bridget's friends rally to repair her broken heart with a surprise trip to Paris, but as they are about to leave, Mark appears at Bridget's flat.

Just as they are about to kiss for the first time, Bridget rushes to her bedroom to change into sexier underwear. Mark notices her open diary, reads her earlier unflattering opinions of him, and leaves. Bridget realizes what's happened and runs outside after him in the snow in just her tigerskin-print underwear, a thin cardigan and trainers. There's no sign of him and, disheartened, she's about to return home when Mark emerges from a nearby shop.

Bridget apologises for what she wrote and tries to persuade him "it's just a diary". Mark reveals he only left to buy her a new one, which he gives her, "to make a fresh start", and they kiss in the snow-covered street.

Cast

Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones
Colin Firth as Mark Darcy
Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver
Jim Broadbent as Mr. Colin Jones
Gemma Jones as Mrs. Pamela Jones
Celia Imrie as Una Alconbury
James Faulkner as 'Uncle' Geoffrey
Shirley Henderson as Jude
Embeth Davidtz as Natasha Glenville
James Callis as Tom
Sally Phillips as Sharon "Shazzer"
Lisa Barbuscia as Lara
Donald Douglas as Admiral Darcy
Charmian May as Mrs. Darcy
Paul Brooke as Mr. Fitzherbert
Patrick Barlow as Julian
Felicity Montagu as Perpetua
Neil Pearson as Richard Finch
Dolly Wells as Woney

Salman Rushdie, Julian Barnes, Jeffrey Archer[5] and Honor Blackman have cameos in the film.[6]

Andrew Davies, screenwriter of the 1995 television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, collaborated on the screenplays for the 2001 and 2004 Bridget Jones films and Crispin Bonham-Carter, who played Mr. Bingley in that adaptation, appeared in a minor role. The self-referential in-joke between the projects convinced Colin Firth to accept the role of Mark Darcy,[7] as it gave him an opportunity to ridicule and liberate himself from his Pride and Prejudice character.[8]

Production

Working Title Films acquired the film rights of the novel in 1997 before it became a best-seller.[9]

Casting

Actresses who were considered for the role of Bridget Jones were Helena Bonham Carter,[10] Cate Blanchett,[10] Emily Watson,[11] Rachel Weisz (who was considered too beautiful for the role),[12] and Cameron Diaz.[13] Toni Collette declined the role because she was on Broadway starring in The Wild Party at the time.[14] Kate Winslet[10] was also considered, but, at 24, the producers decided she was too young.

Zellweger's casting in late May 2000 concluded a two-year search. Producer Eric Fellner explained that she "brings enormous character and conviction to the part".[15] Director Sharon Maguire said of Zellweger, "I saw in Renee a gift few people have, that she was able to straddle comedy and emotion."[10] Zellweger worked on her accent with Barbara Berkery, who had helped Gwyneth Paltrow for Shakespeare in Love.[10] She also gained 20 pounds (9 kg) for the part.[16] To prepare for the role, Zellweger worked at the producers' request at London book publishers Picador as a trainee in the publicity department.[9] Before the film was released, a considerable amount of controversy surrounded the casting of the American Zellweger as what some saw as a quintessentially British heroine.[17][18] However, her performance, including her south-eastern English accent, is widely considered to be of a high standard.[19][20][21]

In July 2000, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant were cast as the male leads.[22] The director of the film, Maguire, one of Fielding's friends, was reportedly the base for the character "Shazzer" (English slang for Sharon), as mentioned in the behind the scenes commentary on the DVD.[23] In the film, Shazzer is played by Sally Phillips.

Filming

Principal photography began on 1 August 2000 and concluded on 5 November 2000. The crew spent six weeks shooting in and around London.[9] Locations used included Shad Thames where Bridget and Daniel have their first date, the Royal Courts of Justice, St Pancras railway station and Tower Bridge.[9] Scenes were filmed at Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire where Bridget and Daniel ventured to for their mini-break.[24] Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire served as the Darcys' home.[9] Stansted Airport doubled as JFK Airport in New York City, while Syon House in Brentford featured as the venue for the anniversary party. The crew filmed for four days at Snowshill in Gloucestershire which featured as the home of Bridget Jones's family.[9][25] After six weeks of shooting on location, the crew moved to Shepperton Studios in Surrey.[9]

Reception

Box office

Bridget Jones's Diary grossed $71.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $210.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $282 million, against a production budget of $25 million.[4]

The film made $10.7 million in its opening weekend, finishing third. Dropping just 5.7% in its second weekend, the film made $10.2 million and finished first the following weekend.[26]

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 162 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Though there was controversy over the choice of casting, Zellweger's Bridget Jones is a sympathetic, likable, funny character, giving this romantic comedy a lot of charm."[27] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[28] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[29]

Much acclaim was given to Zellweger's performance, with Paul Clinton of CNN writing that Zellweger "nails Jones's London accent while simultaneously delivering a performance bursting with power and brimming with heartfelt emotion".[30] The Hollywood Reporter praised Zellweger's knack for physical comedy,[31] and The Washington Post's Stephen Hunter said the film lets her "show both her frantic awkwardness and her tender decency".[32] The New York Times's Stephen Holden called the film "a delicious piece of candy whose amusing package is scrawled with bons mots distantly inspired by Jane Austen", and added "Ms. Zellweger accomplishes the small miracle of making Bridget both entirely endearing and utterly real. It is a performance so airy you barely sense the work that must have gone into it."[33] The Chicago Sun-Times' Roger Ebert gave the film 3+1⁄2 out of 4 possible stars, describing it as "made against all odds into a funny and charming movie that understands the charm of the original, and preserves it".[34] The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw commended Maguire for directing with "chutzpah and style".[35]

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Hugh Grant is charming too, luxuriating in naughtiness, taking a holiday from his usual floppy, velvet romantic image as Bridget's caddish boss, Daniel Cleaver."[36][33][35][37] Hunter praised Firth, writing "He's the compleat Darcy, and he never wavers. There's no sentimentality, no flirtation with the audience, no final moment of pandering to the niceness gods; he's a cold geek all the way through."[32]

Some critics said that in the book's adaptation to the screen, it loses "much of Fielding's irony, nuance and cynicism".[38][35] Clinton wrote, "While the writers have captured Fielding's sparkling rhythm with words, they've created a bit of havoc with the plotline."[30] Though she gave a positive review, Schwarzbaum opined, "The mess, though, where's the mess? The hysteria, the middle of the night jitters of loneliness? The mess of Bridget's life [in the book] has been tidied, neatened into little piles of mirth and gaiety...The movie never shows us anything about Bridget that’s remotely in need of psychological or physical fixing."[36] Felicia Feaster of Creative Loafing expressed that "Bridget's 'why can't I find a husband?' lament" becomes tiresome and "caters to women's lowest expectations and suggests that even the 'modern' 'liberated' woman is a Doris Day closet-case."[39] In contrast, Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com said the film is an improvement on the novel.[37]

In a 2021 retrospective piece for the New Statesman, Johanna Thomas-Corr discussed the more outdated aspects of the film, but said that the central performances are what makes the movie timeless.[38]

Accolades

The film is recognised by American Film Institute in these lists:

2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:
- Nominated Romantic Comedy Film[40]

Renée Zellweger was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress, the Empire Award for Best Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, the MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with Colin Firth), the Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, the Teen Choice Award for Choice Chemistry (shared with Hugh Grant), the Teen Choice Award for Choice Liplock (shared with Grant), and the Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress.

Colin Firth won the European Film Awards Audience Award for Best Actor and the European Film Award – Jameson People's Choice Award – Best Actor and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and the Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

Hugh Grant won the Evening Standard British Film Awards' Peter Sellers Award for Comedy and was nominated for the Empire Award for Best British Actor, the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and the European Film Award – Jameson People's Choice Award – Best Actor.

Richard Curtis, Andrew Davies, and Helen Fielding were nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

The film was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Film, the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and the Satellite Award for Best Film – Musical or Comedy.

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was composed by Patrick Doyle. It also features two hit songs that were released as singles, "Out of Reach" by Gabrielle and "It's Raining Men" by Geri Halliwell. The single became Halliwell's fourth consecutive number-one hit single on the UK Singles Chart and her most successful solo single to date.

Halliwell's version received positive reviews by music critics and experienced international success. In the United Kingdom, "It's Raining Men" debuted at number-one on the UK Singles Chart and stayed there for two weeks. It became Halliwell's fourth consecutive number-one single in the UK, selling 155,000 units in its first week and 80,000 in its second week. Overall the single went on to sell 440,000 copies in Britain alone,[41] becoming the 13th best seller of 2001.[42] In France, it was certified "Diamond" by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP).[43]

Following the success of the first soundtrack, a second soundtrack was released, titled Bridget Jones's Diary 2: More Music from the Motion Picture and Other V.G. Songs.

Bridget Jones's Diary 2: More Music from the Motion Picture and Other V.G. Songs

Tracklisting

"Me and Mrs. Jones" by The Dramatics
"Someone Like You" by Van Morrison
"My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" by En Vogue
"My Funny Valentine" by Elvis Costello
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross
"Yes" by McAlmont and Butler
"Woman" by Neneh Cherry
"Without You" by Nilsson
"Do What You Gotta Do" by Nina Simone
"Say What You Want" by Texas
"Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders
"Out of Reach (Acoustic Version)" by Gabrielle
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow" by The Shirelles
"Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
"Waterfalls" by TLC
"Angels" by Robbie Williams
"It Should Have Been Me" by Yvonne Fair
"Ooo Baby Baby" by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
"I Don't Want to Talk About It" by Dina Carroll
"Passionate Kisses" by Mary Chapin Carpenter

Chart positions

Chart (2001)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[44]	67
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[45]	97

Connection to Pride and Prejudice

Fielding has stated in many interviews that her novel was based upon both Jane Austen's work Pride and Prejudice and its popular 1995 BBC adaptation. This was also reflected in the decision to cast Colin Firth as Darcy, since he played Mr. Darcy in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. This is not the film's only connection to that serial – the screenplay was co-written by Andrew Davies, who had written the adaptation of Austen's novel for the BBC.[8] Crispin Bonham-Carter, who played Mr. Bingley in that adaptation, appeared on the movie in a minor role.

Musical adaptation

In 2009, it was reported the film version was being adapted into a musical, set to hit London's West End, although no premiere date was set. British musician Lily Allen wrote the score and lyrics, and Stephen Daldry, best known for his Tony award-winning work on the West End and Broadway productions of Billy Elliot, was in talks to direct, joined by his co-worker Peter Darling, who was said to serve as choreographer.

Workshops for the show began with television actress and star of Legally Blonde, Sheridan Smith, in the title role.[46] To date, a full production of the musical has not been mounted.[47]