Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (film)

Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) is ecstatic about her new relationship with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). However, Bridget's confidence is shattered when she meets Mark's assistant, the beautiful, slim, quick-witted Rebecca Gillies (Jacinda Barrett). At her job on TV morning show Sit-Up Britain, Bridget crosses paths with her ex, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), and is offered a position alongside Cleaver in a new travel series. Bridget initially refuses, declaring Daniel a "deceitful, sexist, disgusting specimen of humanity," but eventually signs on, despite her friends' misgivings.

Bridget is delighted when Mark invites her to his "Law Council Dinner," believing he will propose afterward. However, a series of fashion/cosmetic mishaps make the evening a debacle, culminating in the team trivia quiz: Bridget makes a critical error on a question about Madonna, which Rebecca Gillies wins, leaving Bridget thoroughly deflated.

After the dinner, Mark and Bridget argue and she leaves in a huff. Mark goes to Bridget's apartment, apologizes, and tells her he loves her for the first time. Later that night, Mark invites Bridget on a ski holiday to Lech, Austria. On the slopes, she learns Rebecca recommended the vacation spot and that she is there as well with a few other colleagues. Bridget suspects that she is pregnant since her period is late, but after an argument over the upbringing and education of their future children, the pregnancy test proves negative. Returning home, Bridget and Mark attend a lunch with their parents, where Bridget is hurt by Mark's dismissal of their prospective marriage.

Bridget overhears a suspicious message from Rebecca on Mark's answering machine and dissects it with her friends, who advise her to confront him; Bridget does, Mark refuses "to dignify the question with an answer," and Bridget breaks up with him. She travels to Thailand with her friend, Shazza (Sally Phillips) and Daniel Cleaver to film "The Smooth Guide." Bridget and Daniel visit several exotic locations and flirtily reconnect, but Bridget's trust in Daniel is again demolished by the arrival of a prostitute he ordered, and she realizes he has not changed his boorish ways.

Shazza has a fling with the much younger Jed (Paul Nicholls), who gives her an ivory tusk as a gift to take back to Britain, which winds up in Bridget's bag. When security dogs at the airport detect a large stash of cocaine inside the tusk, Bridget is arrested and sent to a Thai prison and locked in a cell with almost 50 other Thai female inmates. Feeling low and scared but glad at the friendliness of the inmates, Bridget shares relationship advice with the other inmates and teaches them to sing and dance to Madonna's "Like a Virgin."

Mark arrives to tell Bridget that her release has been put in motion. After confirming Jed as the true perpetrator and that Bridget "spent the night" with Daniel Cleaver, he declares that her sex life does not interest him; Bridget does not correct his presumption, and he departs, leaving Bridget certain he no longer loves her. Back in Britain, Mark confronts Daniel for abandoning Bridget in Thailand, and they fight outside an art gallery in Kensington Gardens. Daniel swears off Bridget for good and sarcastically suggests to Mark, "Why don't you just marry her?"

Bridget arrives at Heathrow Airport as an international human rights celebrity. She is greeted by her parents, who have been busy planning their vow renewal ceremony. At home, Bridget is surprised by her friends, who reveal that Mark personally tracked down the drug trafficker Jed, secured his custody and extradition, and forced him to admit Bridget's innocence. Hopeful that Mark still loves her, Bridget immediately runs to his house. She finds Rebecca there and assumes she is romantically involved with Mark, but Rebecca reveals that she is actually infatuated with Bridget and kisses her; though flattered, Bridget politely turns her down.

Bridget confronts Mark at his legal chambers and asks him to give her another chance. Mark proposes to Bridget and she accepts. The film ends with Bridget's parents renewing their vows and Bridget catching the bouquet.

• Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones
• Colin Firth as Mark Darcy
• Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver
• Gemma Jones as Mrs Pamela Jones
• Jim Broadbent as Mr. Colin Jones
• Celia Imrie as Una Alconbury
• James Faulkner as Uncle Geoffrey
• Jacinda Barrett as Rebecca Gillies
• Sally Phillips as Sharon "Shazza"
• Shirley Henderson as Jude
• James Callis as Tom
• Neil Pearson as Richard Finch
• Donald Douglas as Admiral Darcy
• Shirley Dixon as Mrs. Darcy
• David Verrey as Giles
• Jeremy Paxman as Himself
• Ian McNeice as Quizmaster
• Jessica Stevenson as Magda
• Paul Nicholls (special participation) as Jed
• Wolf Kahler as Commentator
• Catherine Russell as Camilla
• Ting-Ting Hu as Thai prostitute
• Jason Watkins as Charlie Parker-Knowles
• Vee Vimolmal as phrao
• Neil Dudgeon as taxi driver
• Pui Fan Lee and Melissa Ashworth as Thai jail girls

The skiing scenes took place in Lech (Vorarlberg), western Austria

Principal photography began in 6 October 2003 and concluded in 15 February 2004.

Filming took place in Southwark and Primrose Hill.[2] The skiing scenes took place in Lech (Vorarlberg), western Austria.[3][4]

During the fight scene between Daniel and Mark at the "Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens" (actually filmed in the Italian Gardens near Lancaster Gate), it was for the most part not choreographed, instead, the actors were simply asked to fight each other any way they could. At one point in the film (where Bridget and Shazzer are at the Thai airport), Bridget indulges in a fantasy of Mark coming out of water in a wet white shirt, just like Colin Firth did in the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. The poem that Daniel quotes from while passing Ko Panyi is the story of "Phra Aphai Mani" by Sunthorn Phu.

One of the more significant differences between the novel and the film is that the film makes no mention of Bridget's fascination with the BBC television version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth starred in that production.)

Sandra Gregory stated that the scenes involving the Thai prison probably received inspiration from her incident since Helen Fielding knew the next door neighbors of her parents and presumably would have talked to them.[5]

Although the film received mostly negative reviews from film critics, it was voted Evening Standard Readers' Film of 2004, was in the shortlist for the Orange Film of the Year award at 2005 BAFTAs and the second interpretation of Bridget gained Zellweger another Golden Globe nomination and the People's Choice Award as Favorite Leading Lady of 2005.

The film holds a 28% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 156 critics, with the consensus stating: "Edge of Reason is a predictable continuation to the Bridget Jones story, with too much slapstick and silliness."[6]

In July 2009, the BBC reported that a third film was in the early stages of production. On 1 March 2011 it was reported that both Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth had shown interest in reprising their roles.[10] An announcement was made on 11 August 2011 that a third film was greenlit by Universal Pictures, Miramax and Working Title.[11]

Colin Firth talked to The Chicago Sun Times in April 2013. "Unfortunately, it might be a bit of a long wait," he said. "I wouldn't say that it's completely dead in the water, but the way it's going, you might be seeing Bridget Jones's granddaughter's story being told by the time we get there."[12]

In an interview in October 2014, Hugh Grant mentioned an existing script for a sequel, however also expressed his dislike for it and that he would not star in a third film.[13] Filming officially began on 2 October 2015. The movie opened on 16 September 2016.

The film was released on DVD in 2004 with a variety of bonus features.

• Official website
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason on IMDb
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason at AllMovie
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason at Box Office Mojo
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason at Rotten Tomatoes
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason at Metacritic
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason at British Comedy Guide
• Bridget Jones Online Archive