Romantic comedies are, for the most part, an exception to the general maxim that, as surely as night follows day, every successful film will be followed by a sequel. The whole point of a rom-com is to tell the story of how a particular couple fall in love, and falling in love is something which, generally speaking, most couples only do once. This explains why no sequels were ever made to "Four Weddings and a Funeral" or "Notting Hill", even though they were two of the best British romantic comedies of the nineties. Paul Hogan did make a sequel to "Crocodile Dundee", but "Crocodile Dundee 2", unlike its predecessor, was not so much a romantic comedy as a comic adventure story whose protagonists just happened to be husband and wife.
With "Bridget Jones's Diary" things were different. Because Helen Fielding had written a follow-up to her first novel, there was an expectation that the second novel would also be filmed. "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" was the result. At the beginning of the film Bridget and her barrister boyfriend Mark Darcy are still together. Following a quarrel, however, they split up, partly as a result of Mark's failure to commit to marriage, partly as a result of Bridget's unjustified suspicion that Mark is having an affair with his attractive colleague Rebecca Gilles. Bridget meets her former lover Daniel Cleaver, who offers her a job presenting a television travel show called "The Smooth Guide". (This is presumably a reference to the well-known "Rough Guide" series of travel books, but there is also a play on the word "smoothie" in the sense of "charming but untrustworthy man"). Daniel, of course, proves himself to be a smoothie in precisely this sense, leaving Bridget to be rescued by Mark when she is arrested in Thailand on drugs charges.
It may be the case that every successful film is followed by a sequel. That is not the same as saying that every successful film is followed by an equally successful sequel; indeed, it has become one of the standard received ideas of film criticism to say that, apart from "Godfather II", sequels are invariably worse than the original film. Like a number of received ideas, this one contains a good deal of truth, and although there have been some good sequels, "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" is not among them.
The main problem is that it simply repeats, with minor variations, the basic plot of the original film. Bridget becomes involved with Daniel, finds him to be charming but untrustworthy, and falls back on the more emotionally reticent, but also more solid and reliable, Mark, and the viewer is left feeling "So what? I've seen that story before". What was once fresh now seems stale. There is no attempt to develop the characters any further; the only difference is that Bridget's infatuation with Daniel evokes less sympathy the second time around, as she should have known from previous experience what a rotter he is. The Thai drug smuggling plot was hackneyed in the extreme. The Western media have three standard clichés about Thailand- prostitution, transvestitism and drugs- all of which are faithfully trotted out here. (One can only wonder what the Thais themselves make of this treatment of their country). The supposed "surprise revelation" about Rebecca could be seen coming a mile away.
There have recently been rumours that a third film in the franchise is to be made. Given the relative failure of "Bridget Jones II", can we hope that "Bridget Jones III" will be any better? 5/10 Some goofs. Mark refers to his "partners", but barrister, unlike solicitors, do not practise in partnership, and no barrister would refer to his colleagues in chambers in this way. There is no such body as the "Law Council"; the scriptwriter appears to have confused the Law Society (the solicitors' professional association) with the Bar Council (the professional body for barristers).
With "Bridget Jones's Diary" things were different. Because Helen Fielding had written a follow-up to her first novel, there was an expectation that the second novel would also be filmed. "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" was the result. At the beginning of the film Bridget and her barrister boyfriend Mark Darcy are still together. Following a quarrel, however, they split up, partly as a result of Mark's failure to commit to marriage, partly as a result of Bridget's unjustified suspicion that Mark is having an affair with his attractive colleague Rebecca Gilles. Bridget meets her former lover Daniel Cleaver, who offers her a job presenting a television travel show called "The Smooth Guide". (This is presumably a reference to the well-known "Rough Guide" series of travel books, but there is also a play on the word "smoothie" in the sense of "charming but untrustworthy man"). Daniel, of course, proves himself to be a smoothie in precisely this sense, leaving Bridget to be rescued by Mark when she is arrested in Thailand on drugs charges.
It may be the case that every successful film is followed by a sequel. That is not the same as saying that every successful film is followed by an equally successful sequel; indeed, it has become one of the standard received ideas of film criticism to say that, apart from "Godfather II", sequels are invariably worse than the original film. Like a number of received ideas, this one contains a good deal of truth, and although there have been some good sequels, "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" is not among them.
The main problem is that it simply repeats, with minor variations, the basic plot of the original film. Bridget becomes involved with Daniel, finds him to be charming but untrustworthy, and falls back on the more emotionally reticent, but also more solid and reliable, Mark, and the viewer is left feeling "So what? I've seen that story before". What was once fresh now seems stale. There is no attempt to develop the characters any further; the only difference is that Bridget's infatuation with Daniel evokes less sympathy the second time around, as she should have known from previous experience what a rotter he is. The Thai drug smuggling plot was hackneyed in the extreme. The Western media have three standard clichés about Thailand- prostitution, transvestitism and drugs- all of which are faithfully trotted out here. (One can only wonder what the Thais themselves make of this treatment of their country). The supposed "surprise revelation" about Rebecca could be seen coming a mile away.
There have recently been rumours that a third film in the franchise is to be made. Given the relative failure of "Bridget Jones II", can we hope that "Bridget Jones III" will be any better? 5/10 Some goofs. Mark refers to his "partners", but barrister, unlike solicitors, do not practise in partnership, and no barrister would refer to his colleagues in chambers in this way. There is no such body as the "Law Council"; the scriptwriter appears to have confused the Law Society (the solicitors' professional association) with the Bar Council (the professional body for barristers).