FREE: Bridget Jones the edge of reason

The listing, Bridget Jones the edge of reason has ended.

widescreen version - rated R

Can you enjoy this movie without seeing the first Diary? Yes, you learn enough of the characters early that this movie can stand on its own. However, I would bet that if you even smile during this one, you will want to rent or buy the first. You'll laugh out loud.

Especially if you love Colin Firth. He is a much greater presence in this movie than the first--- after all, he (as "Mark Darcy") and Bridget have a real relationship as the movie opens. Of course they ---uhmm--- "mess" it up ("language, Bridget!") with misunderstandings, jealousies, and very funny mishaps. I am not a huge fan of humor based on one character's running the continuum from private embarrassment to public humiliation; yet Bridget, who constantly manages to embarrass herself and others in public, is such a good sport and so charming as Everygirl, that we laugh or groan with her in recognition of those moments in ourselves, and not at her. There are some great laughs in this movie.

Some of them come with Hugh Grant, who seems to have lost the weight that Renee Zellweger gained. Too thin but still devilishly attractive, Hugh's rakish character Daniel Cleaver hangs around to take advantage of the misunderstandings between Bridget and Mark Darcy-- even if he has to "hang around" Thailand to do it. Cad that he is, when Bridget really becomes a damsel in distress, he evaporates into thin air. That's all right. We know there will be some rough times in between, but surely Mark Darcy, human rights lawyer, will come cantering in on a white horse to save Bridget from Thai prison, right? Not quite. But with a few comic kinks, close enough.