Beeban Kidron
Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Jacinda Barrett, Shirley Henderson, Sally Phillips
So "Bridget Jones's Diary" — adapted for the screen from Helen Fielding's chick-lit bestseller and starring a pudged-up Renée Zellweger as the doughy, doughty British career woman — wasn't enough empowerment for modern gals with body issues? The sequel "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," also based on a Fielding novel and featuring an even chubbier Zellweger, plows over the same ground as the first film, and the romance and comedy in this supposed romantic comedy couldn't be weaker. When we rejoin Bridget, she's a quasi-successful TV news reporter prone to humiliating herself on the air. She won the man of her dreams, crusading lawyer Mark Darcy (Colin Firth, back again), in the previous installment, but her neuroses, especially her waves of anxiety, threaten to destroy the relationship. To make matters worse, Bridget's former boss and seducer Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant, also back again) sees the instability as a chance to swoop in for a little B.J. while she's susceptible to outside wooing. Since Daniel is now working for the same channel as Bridget, he's going to use the proximity to his advantage. The slapstick, and there's plenty, is spent, and Bridget's poor-me shtick has lost what little wan charm it had. Director Beeban Kidron can't salvage the gauche, muddled script, nor can the fine supporting cast, including Jim Broadbent and Shirley Henderson.