Bridget Jones's Baby

"It's like the final of the X Factor. Dial 01 if you want it to be Mark and 02 if you want it to be Jack."

Bridget Jones (Zellwenger) just turned 43.  She has a great job as the producer of a television show.  She is single and tired of watching her closest friends, Shazzer (Phillips), Tom (Callis), Jude (Henderson), and Magda (Hynes) move on to serious relationships and kids.  Disappointed that her friends no longer have time for her, she agrees to weekend away with her co-worker Miranda (Solemani).  They end up at a music festival where she is rescued by American Jack Qwant (Dempsey), who she sleeps with.  A few days later, at the christening of Jude's youngest, she sleeps with her ex- Mark Darcy (Firth).

A few months later, she is pregnant and doesn't know who is the father.  Meanwhile, her producing job is at risk when the studio brings in a Alice Peabody (O'Flynn), a young woman who is known for firing employees due to their age.  Alice wants to make the show young and hip and doesn't want to cover actual news.  She tells both Jack and Mark about her pregnancy, and both believe they are the father.  Can she figure out which one is the father and find a way to keep her job?


In 1995, Helen Fielding created the character of Bridget Jones for a column in The Independent.  The column was popular enough that a year later she wrote the novel "Bridget Jones's Diary," based on Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" (she even has a love interest named Mr. Darcy).  The novel was popular and won the 1998 British Book of the Year.  It was popular enough that Fielding wrote 2 sequels:"Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" in 1999 and "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy" in 2013.

The original novel was adapted to film in 2001, Bridget Jones's Diary.  In 2004 they made a sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.  Fielding was credited as a writer on both films.  In 2011 they planned to make a third film in the series, with an original story by Fielding... which became this film.  This film is not based on any of Fielding's novels.  Sharon Maguire directed this film, and the original.

Renee Zellweger returns as Bridget and Colin Firth returns as Mark Darcy.  It is 10 years since the last Jones film and many things have happened in their lives since then.  The rest of Bridget's friends / family return for this film, with the exception of Hugh Grant's Daniel Cleaver.  While her parents and friends all appear in this film, they have a much smaller role.  The film focuses on Bridget and her relationships with Mark and new character Jack, played by Patrick Dempsey.  Dempsey's Jack is charming and spontaneous, and a good contrast to Firth's charming but uptight Mark.  And Emma Thompson appears as Bridget's ObGyn.

I read (and own) the first two novels and saw the first film, and I enjoyed this film.  It is a funny romantic comedy and a nice sense of closure for a character I enjoy.  I wish they didn't swear as much, but otherwise it was a fun ride.  Apparently there is an alternate ending for the film, but I have not found it yet.

After this movie was released, Fielding wrote the novel "Bridget Jones's Baby: The Diaries"... but the potential fathers in the book are Darcy and Daniel Cleaver.

Bridget Jones's Baby (2016) 123 minutes
Rating: R for language, sex references and some nudity
Director: Sharon Maguire
Starring: Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones
Colin Firth as Mark Darcy
Patrick Dempsey as Jack Qwant
Sall Phillips as Sharon "Shazzer"
James Callis as Tom
Shirley Henderson as Jude
Sarah Solemani as Miranda
Neil Pearson as Richard Finch
Emma Thompson as Dr. Rawlings
Jim Broadbent as Mr. Colin Jones
Gemma Jones as Mrs. Pamela Jones
Celia Imrie as Una Alconbury
Jessica Hynes as Magda
Kate O'Flynn as Alice Peabody