Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

Director:

Sharon Maguire

Writers:

Helen Fielding (novel)
Helen Fielding (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

13 April 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

It's Monday morning, Bridget has woken up with a headache, a hangover and her boss.

Plot:

A British woman is determined to improve herself while she looks for love in a year in which she keeps a personal diary.

Plot Keywords:

Boss | Diary | Quirky | British | Lawyer

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 8 wins & 29 nominations

Cast

Renée Zellweger	...	Bridget Jones
Gemma Jones	...	Bridget's Mum
Celia Imrie	...	Una Alconbury
James Faulkner	...	Uncle Geoffrey
Jim Broadbent	...	Bridget's Dad
Colin Firth	...	Mark Darcy
Charmian May	...	Mrs. Darcy
Hugh Grant	...	Daniel Cleaver
Paul Brooke	...	Mr. Fitzherbert
Felicity Montagu	...	Perpetua
Shirley Henderson	...	Jude
Sally Phillips	...	Shazza
James Callis	...	Tom
Charlie Caine	...	Handsome Stranger
Gareth Marks	...	Simon in Marketing

Also Known As:

Bridget Jones (UK) (informal title)
Le journal de Bridget Jones (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some strong sexuality.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

UK | Ireland | France

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Malaysia:18SX | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:M (cut) | Brazil:14 | Chile:14 | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 (cut) | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | UK:15 (cut) | USA:R (certificate #38033)

Filming Locations:

Borough Market, Borough, London, England, UK

Company:

Little Bird

Trivia:

When Helen Fielding wrote the novel "Bridget Jones's Diary", she based the character of Mark Darcy on Colin Firth's depiction of Mr. Darcy in "Pride and Prejudice" (1995). In addition to the inside-joke casting of Colin Firth as Mark Darcy, there are several other allusions to Jane Austen's story: Mark disparages Bridget to his mother within earshot of Bridget. In "Pride and Prejudice", Mr. Darcy disparages Elizabeth to his friend Mr. Bingley within earshot of Elizabeth. Daniel Cleaver lies to Bridget about a dispute between him and Mark, claiming Mark stole his fiancée; in fact, it was the other way around. In "Pride and Prejudice", it's a dispute between Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy, and Wickham lies about who's at fault. The Darcy in both stories fails to disabuse the heroine's misinformed notion until it's almost too late. Bridget works at Pemberley Press; Mr. Darcy lives at Pemberley estate. Crispin Bonham-Carter was in both productions (his scenes were cut out of the film, although he can still be seen in the job-quitting scene and can also be seen at the Kafka book launch where Bridget asks Salman Rushdie where the toilets are - he is seen as the man on the left in the conversation). When Bridget stops at a mall to see her mother, she begins the scene by saying (in a voice over) that, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that as soon as one part of your life starts looking up, another part falls to pieces." This is an update of the famous opening lines of "Pride and Prejudice": "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

Goofs:

Continuity: During the fight between Mark and David go through the window. In the shots of the glass the writing drastically changes.

Quotes:

Interviewer: What do you think about the El Nino phenomenon?
Bridget: It's a blip. Latin music's on its way out.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The 50 Greatest Comedy Films (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

ME AND MRS JONES

ridiculously hilarious

Being a long time fan of the BJD books (three years and counting), I had nothing but high hopes for the movie version. I was lucky enough to get into a sneak preview last night, and I was not disappointed. The movie, like the book, has the most hilarious lines and moments, and each of the actors portrayed their characters so well you couldn't imagine anyone else in that part. Renee Zellweger IS Bridget, there is just no arguing it. No other actress could have pulled off what Renee did in this movie. Hugh Grant makes for an excellent Daniel, who is completely two faced and has a smarmy sort of charm that makes you want him just as badly as Bridget does. Colin Firth is a superb Mark Darcy, but that was a given because the character was practically written with him in mind - as all avid BJD readers know, Mark Darcy's character is a play on the Mr. Darcy Firth portrayed in Pride and Prejudice.

Some of the more hardcore fans of the book may be disappointed with all the missing jokes and scenes, but to film the entire book would have left us with a 10 hour movie. The writers did an excellent job distilling the essence of the novel, and the finished product has all the charm and wit of the original. The audience, many of whom I'm sure have never read the book (and many of whom, surprisingly, were male), laughed nonstop throughout the film, and everyone seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. As for those of us who have read it, I do believe that this is one of those rare book-to-movie jobs that was really spot-on, and everything that was noticeably changed in the process only makes the movie better. So go see it, it's hands-down one of the best movies of 2001 so far.