In Her Last Chapter, Bridget Jones Finds Magic… Just As She Is
In the lead-up to the release of the fourth and final Bridget Jones film, I couldn’t help but notice a stream of commentary about how Gen Z has fallen in love with Bridget Jones. Headlines like “Would Gen Z Bridget Jones Be On Ozempic?” and “Why Gen Z Can’t Get Enough Of Bridget Jones” invaded the holy grail that is my Instagram feed and I couldn’t help it – as a millennial in my early 30s, I felt a tad excluded from the chat. To borrow a term from Helen Fielding, author of the series – this is what emotional fuckwittage must feel like…
The internet has gone above and beyond to divide generations. But sitting there in that theatre, I found myself confronted with something that both millennials and Gen Z have in common. If you haven’t seen the film, look away now, spoilers below.
Ghosting. Millennials and Gen Z’s worst contribution to modern dating, and a phenomenon that Bridget Jones finds herself a victim of in Mad About The Boy. The publicity for the film never prepared me for it. Loss is a theme that hasn’t been tackled this way in any of the previous Bridget Jones movies. Sure, there have been plenty of moments which pull at your heartstrings, but this film feels equally hilarious and deeply sad. Which is what makes it the perfect rom-com. It takes you to all the places a film should take you to, and then some more.
The ghosts of Bridget’s past
In the final chapter of Bridget Jones, we meet our protagonist (now in her 50s) four years after the death of her husband Mark Darcy, played by Colin Firth, who died tragically (but in the most Mark Darcy of ways) – on a humanitarian mission in Sudan. Bridget is her usual messy but lovable self and it feels comforting to see her on-screen again, with her familiar lack of spatial awareness. But this time, it’s achingly glaring that something is missing. Mark Darcy appears in the film only as the ghost of her past, but each time you get a glimpse of him, it breaks your heart. The Bridget and Mark love story feels like one of those things that took so long to finally happen, only for us to be robbed of it before we could properly enjoy their relationship. Perhaps there’s a part of me that won’t forgive the creators of Bridget Jones for not just giving them more time.
But art imitates life, and sometimes in the real world we don’t get the time to say goodbye to the ones we love. And so Bridget carries her ghosts with her into the world, navigating motherhood without the father of her children. Luckily, she has a whole entourage of friends, family, problematic ex-colleagues and one very blunt gynaecologist (yes, Emma Thompson is back with more fabulously sarcastic one-liners), who are all insistent that they know what Bridget Jones should be doing next. I think everyone can relate to listening to well-meaning people insisting that they know how you should lead your life after a tragedy. Move on, don’t move on, meditate, have sex, don’t have sex, go back to work, focus on the kids, forget about the kids – everybody has opinions. It takes you back to watching a younger Bridget arriving at her mother’s Christmas party and hearing a stream of commentary on how the clock was ticking and she hadn’t found a husband yet. Bridget’s life has completely changed – but in some ways, nothing has changed at all.
So armed with a Tinder profile and a little help from her friends, Bridget finds herself being wooed by 28 (sorry, 29) year-old Roxster played by One Day’s [profile-link]Leo Woodall[/profile-link].
Bridget’s life has completely changed – but in some ways, nothing has changed at all.
Mad About The Boy joins the league of recently released films like Babygirl and The Idea of You which focus on age-gap relationships. But in the grand scheme of it all, the age difference between the two is perhaps the least interesting part of the film – because there is so much more to the story.
The fruit of the magical man tree
Leo Woodall plays the perfect arm candy. He rescues Bridget and her children from a tree, asks for permission before kissing her and fills in all the spaces in her life that had been empty since Mark’s death. You find yourself rooting for them the entire first half. The relationship between Bridget and Roxster perfectly represents what modern dating looks like. The online flirting that lasts for weeks on end. The quick transition into passionate romance. The picture-perfect relationship. The promise of a future. And then before you know it, radio silence. Watching Bridget Jones getting ghosted is devastating. We’ve all been there. The ghoster or the ghostee. And watching her lose someone without warning – again, is not something I was prepared to see. (Hot tip: Take a packet of tissues to the cinema with you).
But for every tearjerking memory of Mark Darcy, there is a moment of comic genius from Hugh Grant. He is still very much the Daniel Cleaver that we’ve always known (even after a near-fatal plane accident) and I was relieved to see it. I was afraid that he would be turned into someone with morals and no sense of humour, but thankfully there is none of that. Daniel Cleaver is back to unabashedly flirting with Bridget and saying outrageous things that people get cancelled for. But he also cares for Bridget’s children like a loving albeit irresponsible uncle and never fails to bring a smile to her face. Grant might not be her love interest in this film anymore, but he still steals the show.
For every tearjerking memory of Mark Darcy, there is a moment of comic genius from Hugh Grant.
Is it the best film in the series?
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy leans heavily into nostalgia, paying tribute to some iconic moments from previous films. No, there is no big fight sequence against the soundtrack of It’s Raining Men. But we are blessed with a slow-motion shot of Leo Woodall emerging from a pool post saving a dog that did not really need saving – but no complaints here.
Mad About The Boy leans heavily into nostalgia.
When Bridget finally discovers that her second chance at true love actually lies with her children’s awkward but sexy science teacher, Mr. Wallaker (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), there is even a first kiss in the snow scene – this time Bridget is wearing more than just underwear though. For me, this is the best film in the series because it gives us a satisfactory ending. It’s sweet, it’s funny, it breaks your heart in all the right places and it feels like the perfect way to say goodbye to a character we’ve loved for so long.
In her final chapter, Bridget Jones reminds us to laugh at ourselves a little harder, hold the ones we love a little tighter and never doubt the powers of a magical man tree.
