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:

The film has different end-credits in different countries. In Europe, Australia and Latin America the credits show a montage of stills plus "interviews" about Bridget and Darcy with Daniel Cleaver, Mark Darcy's parents and Bridget's boss. In America, they show a young Bridget and Mark running around the backyard and paddling pool in a home video. The "interviews" can be found as the final deleted scene on the North American DVD, as well as the North American credits are found in the 'Deleted Scenes'-material on the European DVD.

Goofs:

Continuity: We see Bridget struggling to pull on her granny knickers with nothing else on her lower behalf, but a few scenes later, Daniel pulls up her skirt to reveal them over her tights/pantyhose

Quotes:

Bridget: Have bottom size of Brazil

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Ultimate Film (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

HAVE YOU MET MISS JONES

Quality!

What made this film work? What made this film break the usual British romantic conventional route? One actress! Her name is Renee Zellwegger, seriously, if the actress was British, this film would've been -'been there, done that'. Instead, this clever casting has made Bridget Jones a wonderful little picture.

Renee Zellwegger is an actress who changed to suit the screenplay, now that is ACTING! Her mannerisms, her weight, her enthusiasm and cutesy style are a wonder to behold.

Colin Firth does a great job, he plays his role well, a future James Bond perhaps? Hugh Grant finally gives us something different, he was actually quite funny at times.

Maguire as the director handles the proceedings extremely well, this is her debut and I think she will become quite successful with small films. The Super35 wide-screen frame is used well, bravo! The screenplay is lightweight, but written well, plenty of ad-lib and spontaneity transcend the script.

As a male, sit back and have a laugh. Quality!