Mad About the Boy
Let’s face it, the fourth instalment in a movie series often feels like a final attempt to squeeze more from the character, testing if there’s any juice left for one last lap around the track. Now, I have seen the first three Bridget Jones movies, so off I went to check out the final one.
More than two decades after Bridget Jones first charmed audiences, “Mad About the Boy” brings us back into her world—only now, life looks very different. Living on the edge of Hampstead Heath with two young children, Bridget is navigating the complexities of single motherhood after the devastating loss of her beloved husband, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), a noble human rights lawyer killed in Sudan.
As a widow myself of almost 6 years, ironically also with a husband called Mark, I didn’t know how the grief would be portrayed for ‘Bridget’ or how I would feel watching it. I have to say, I found myself relating to her grief path. The sympathetic head tilts from people (they are the worst!) and her quote about “with all the words in the English language, how no one knows the right ones to use” were particularly poignant. I won’t deny that it did bring back memories.
In the movie, Bridget has remained resolutely single since Marks death, but her old friend Shazzer (Sally Phillips) insists it’s time to shake things up. The first step is returning to work as a television producer. The second is to reignite her love life. Enter Roxster (Leo Woodall,) a much younger Tinder match who injects a bit of fun and passion back into Bridget’s world. But as she rediscovers romance, another unexpected contender emerges—her children’s science teacher, Mr. Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor).
This instalment, co-written by Helen Fielding, Abi Morgan and Dan Mazer, shifts away from the slapstick comedy of previous films, embracing a more heartfelt tone. While Bridget still stumbles—most amusingly in an unfortunate lip-filler incident—the film is ultimately a poignant exploration of finding joy after loss. It’s refreshing to see a middle-aged woman depicted as both a mother and a romantic lead, with no judgment cast on her choices, including her fling with a younger man.
Perhaps most surprisingly, some of the film’s most affecting moments come from Bridget’s interactions with the ever-charming rogue Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant). Absent since “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason” (2004), Daniel is now an ‘Uncle’ figure to Bridget’s children, even if his babysitting technique includes angling for a drink and a flirt. As an aging playboy grappling with his own loneliness, he shares a newfound understanding with Bridget, leading to some of the film’s most poignant scenes.
There are subtle nods to the past—like turquoise cocktails reminiscent of Bridget’s infamous blue soup—but these references never feel forced. Instead, “Mad About the Boy” stands on its own as a tender, unexpectedly mature story about embracing love again, imperfections and all. There was a little part of me that wanted to see Daniel and Bridget get it together, but I knew that would be too cliché and ‘expected’ for this film.
However, what I will say is, if this is indeed Bridget’s final chapter, it’s a fittingly warm and sincere farewell; as Shazza says, “we’ve had some f***ing fun haven’t we.”
