Love is all about accepting each other “just as we are.” Just remember that the next time he leaves the toilet seat up, or she takes too long getting ready. Our relationships here on earth are a reflection of heavenly love. Thankfully God loves us just as we are. Edge of Reason helps up put everything petty and trivial in perspective – love is bigger than that.

(2004) Film Review

This page was created on November 11, 2004
This page was last updated on November 23, 2004

—Review by Annette Wierstra
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections
—Forum

Dial up modems will take a few moments

CREDITS

Directed by Beeban Kidron
Novel by Helen Fielding
Screenplay by Andrew Davies, Helen Fielding, Richard Curtis and Adam Brooks

Cast (in credits order)
Renée Zellweger .... Bridget Jones
Gemma Jones .... Mum
Jim Broadbent .... Dad
James Faulkner .... Uncle Geoffrey
Celia Imrie .... Una Alconbury
Dominic McHale .... Bernard
Colin Firth .... Mark Darcy
Donald Douglas .... Admiral Darcy
Shirley Dixon .... Mrs. Darcy
Neil Pearson .... Richard Finch
Rosalind Halstead .... Receptionist
Luis Soto .... Mexican Ambassador
Tom Brooke .... Production Assistant
Hugh Grant .... Daniel Cleaver
Alba Fleming Furlan .... Girl in Rome
Jacinda Barrett .... Rebecca
Sally Phillips .... Shazzer
James Callis .... Tom
Shirley Henderson .... Jude
Lucy Robinson .... Janey
David Verrey .... Giles Benwick
Mark Tandy .... Derek
Stephanie O'Rourke .... Sexy P.A.
Jeremy Paxman .... Himself
Flaminia Cinque .... Corset Lady
Jessica Stevenson .... Magda
Trevor Fox .... Hairdresser
Alex Jennings .... Horatio
Catherine Russell .... Camilla

Produced by
Bernard Bellew .... line producer
Tim Bevan .... producer
Jonathan Cavendish .... producer
Liza Chasin .... executive producer
Eric Fellner .... producer
Debra Hayward .... executive producer
Klaus Jüptner .... line producer
Oswald Wolkenstein .... segment producer

Original Music by
Stephen Barton (additional music)
Toby Chu (additional music)
Harry Gregson-Williams
Michael Price (additional score) (uncredited)

Cinematography by Adrian Biddle
Film Editing by Greg Hayden

MPAA: Rated R for language and some sexual content.
Runtime: 108 min
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM, and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG

TRAILERS AND CLIPS

—Trailers, Photos

Bridget Jones - The Edge Of Reason
Various Artists - Soundtrack - 2004
Fresh from her 2004 Oscar win, Renée Zellweger reprises the title role in the romantic screen comedy Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason. The film also boasts a sensational companion soundtrack from Geffen Records featuring great pop legends and newer rising stars, among them Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Rufus Wainwright & Dido, Carly Simon, Jamie Cullum, Sting & Annie Lennox and more.

With Nick Angel serving as music supervisor/executive producer, the soundtrack Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason is a pop music lover’s delight. Newly recorded songs appearing on the cd include: a cover of Sade’s song "Your Love Is King," by rising U.K. star Will Young; "Misunderstood," a new tune by Robbie Williams; "Everlasting Love," a newly recorded cover by Jamie Cullum, "Stop!," by UK artist Jamelia; Kate McGarrigle’s "I Eat Dinner," recorded as a duet by her son Rufus Wainwright & Dido; and a newly recorded version of Sting’s "We’ll Be Together" by Sting and Annie Lennox. Other songs on the soundtrack include: "Can’t Get You Out Of My Head" by Kylie Minogue; "Super Duper Love (Are You Diggin' On Me?)" from Joss Stone; "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" by Mary J Blige; "Crazy In Love" by Beyonce; the classic "I'm Not In Love" by 10CC; Carly Simon’s hit "Nobody Does It Better;" "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" from The Darkness; Minnie Ripperton’s timeless "Loving You;" and "Bridget's Theme" by Harry Gregson Williams.

Based on the novel by Helen Fielding and directed by Beeban Kidron, Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason stars Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth (all reprising their roles from Bridget Jones's Diary) along with Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones and Jacinda Barrett.

BOOK

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
by Helen Fielding
Fans of Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary will recall that at the end of that sly and funny version of Pride and Prejudice, singleton heroine Bridget landed her Mr. Darcy at last--Mark Darcy, that is. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason picks up four weeks later, and already the honeymoon is over. In addition to discovering that the man of her dreams votes conservative, left-leaning Bridget is also feeling just a mite uncomfortable with the realities of sharing bed and board with another person:

V. complicated actually having man in house as cannot freely spend requisite amount of time in bathroom or turn into gas chamber as conscious of other person late for work, desperate for pee etc.; also disturbed by Mark folding up underpants at night, rendering it strangely embarrassing now simply to keep all own clothes in pile on floor.

But all of these problems pale to insignificance with the arrival on the scene of Rebecca, a beautiful, man-hunting arch-nemesis with "thighs like a baby giraffe" and absolutely no girlfriend code of ethics when it comes to poaching another woman's man. Before long, Rebecca's manipulations, Bridget's own insecurities, and a string of misunderstandings (starting with a naked Filipino boy in Mark Darcy's bed and ending with a suggestive valentine from Bridget's dry cleaner) result in "128 lbs. (good), alcohol units 0 (excellent), cigarettes 5 (a pleasant, healthy number), no. times driven past Mark Darcy's house 2 (v.g.), no. of times looked up Mark Darcy's name in phone book to prove still exists 18 (v.g.), 1471 calls 12 (better), no. of phone calls from Mark 0 (tragic).

Fortunately, Bridget has plenty of other problems to distract her. Her mother has returned from a trip to Kenya with a young Masai in tow--to her father's consternation; her best friends Jude, Shazzer, and Tom are all trapped in dating hell themselves; her apartment is in shambles thanks to a dotty carpenter; an unreliable ex-boyfriend has just reentered her life; and now someone is sending Bridget death threats--could it be Mark Darcy? If Bridget Jones's Diary was a modern riff on Pride and Prejudice, its sequel borrows several themes and devices (not to mention a section heading) from another Austen novel, Persuasion. And as in Austen's fiction, here the journey is the destination. A happy ending for Bridget and her pals is a foregone conclusion; how they get there, however, will have you on the edge of your chair--if you haven't already fallen off of it laughing. --Alix Wilber

POSTER

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SYNOPSIS

Working Title Films' Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason stars Oscar® winner Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth all reprising the roles they originated in Bridget Jones's Diary. In this follow-up to the worldwide hit, we find Bridget where we left her--blissful and besotted in the arms of gorgeous lawyer Mark Darcy (Firth). Mark is accomplished, supportive and tolerant of (nearly) all of Bridget's tiny jealousies--why wouldn't every woman in London, including Mark's new long-legged, drop-dead, "I-always-say-the-right-thing-at-all-times" intern, want to lure him away from the plumpish, opinionated, sometimes inappropriate Bridget?

With the entry of the leggy threat, Bridget's pink clouds begin to turn gray as her attacks of self-doubt sorely test her relationship with Darcy. And just when it seems that the waters couldn't get any more choppy, Bridget's former boss, womanizing heartthrob Daniel Cleaver (Grant), sails into view. Ms. Jones careens from embarrassing situation to romantic misunderstanding, still managing to muddle through in this continuation of the trials and tribulations of the working woman who has become the symbolic heroine of 'singletons' everywhere.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason provides a hilarious and touching look at the answer to the question, "What happens after the happy ending?"

Based on author Helen Fielding's best-selling novel Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, the film stars Renée Zellweger (returning to the role that earned her first Oscar® nomination), Hugh Grant and Colin Firth all under the direction of Beeban Kidron from a screenplay written by Andrew Davies, Helen Fielding, Richard Curtis and Adam Brooks. It is produced by Working Title's Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, and Jonathan Cavendish; it also stars Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Jacinda Barrett, Shirley Henderson, Sally Phillips, James Callis, Jessica Stephenson, Celia Imrie and Neil Pearson. Debra Hayward and Liza Chasin serve as executive producers. The film was shot on location in London, Thailand and Austria.

Review by ANNETTE WIERSTRA
Reporter, Writer
Annette is a writer and reporter living in Canada.

My friend and I sat in the theater waiting for the lights to dim and the movie to start, chatting about friends, husbands, kids and life in general. All around us women were having similar conversations and the theater was humming. This is a chick flick. There were some men in the theater, but not many, and the young man sitting behind us didn’t sound as if he came because it was his movie choice.

I think Bridget is such a popular character with women because we relate to her more than we relate to most Hollywood heroines. She worries about her weight, she worries that she is not good enough, she is awkward, and she never says the right thing. Who hasn’t been there?

In Edge of Reason we pick up where we left off in Bridget Jones’ Diary. Bridget and Mark Darcy are in love and everything is perfect. Until the cracks start to show. Bridget creates problems in the relationship because it is just too good to be true. She cannot accept the unconditional “I love you just as you are” love from Mark. And she listens to her friends far too much instead of just trusting her heart.

It’s a theme we see again and again in film and television. Characters break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend for the weakest of reasons: her nose is too big, he talks too much, I can’t stand the way she laughs. Just watch Seinfeld or Sex in the City to see characters break up for silly reasons, and you’ll see characters who are afraid of love. I admit it: I’ve sat around with my girlfriends and analyzed every word that came out of some guy’s mouth to find all the hidden meanings, just as Bridget does with her friends.

This hyper-analysis leads Bridget nowhere. She breaks up with Mark and ends up miserable and alone?again. Then, under the most unlikely circumstances, Bridget meets a group of women who have real man problems. These new friends tell stories of beatings, pimping and drugs. It puts Bridget’s relationship problems into perspective.

We can live with the little things. Love is all about accepting each other “just as we are.” Just remember that the next time he leaves the toilet seat up, or she takes too long getting ready. Our relationships here on earth are a reflection of heavenly love. Thankfully God is bigger than we are, or we would all be miserable and alone. He always loves us just as we are. Edge of Reason helps up put everything petty and trivial in perspective?love is bigger than that.

As for the big question: is the second movie as good as the first one? No. The first movie distilled the book Bridget Jones’ Diary really well. It made cuts and changes to the plot line that made sense, streamlined the story and made the book into a really great movie that let us fall in love with Colin Firth (Mark Darcy) all over again.

Helen Fielding second novel about Bridget is actually funnier than Bridget Jones’ Diary. Instead of building on that new humor, the film version of Edge of Reason uses a lot of the same jokes and comic moments as the original movie. For example, another big fight scene, while funny, is something we’ve already seen. I felt that the filmmaker was trying to capture the same success in Edge of Reason by picking up some of the things that worked in Bridget Jones’ Diary. This choice weakens the movie overall and ultimately makes it a lesser follow up.

At the same time, I was laughing out loud in the theater and I was surrounded by other women who were laughing. Bridget is still Bridget and I still connected to her character. So while I was disappointed that the Edge of Reason did not measure up to Bridget Jones’ Diary, I still enjoyed watching Bridget stumble through a relationship and try to figure out what love really is.through a relationship and try to figure out what love really is.

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