Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones is 32, single, engagingly imperfect, and worried about her weight. She works as a publicity assistant at a publishing company in London where her main focus is fantasising about her womanising boss, Daniel Cleaver. At her parents' New Year's party, Bridget is reintroduced to Mark Darcy, a childhood acquaintance and barrister, the son of her parents' friends. Mark finds Bridget foolish and vulgar, while she thinks he is arrogant and rude. Bridget forms the New Year's resolution to turn her life around, by beginning to keep a diary to chronicle her attempts to quit smoking and drinking, lose weight, and find her "Mr. Right". Bridget and Daniel begin to flirt heavily at work, ahead of an important book launch, at which Bridget's awkward introductory speech unintentionally insults Salman Rushdie and Jeffrey Archer. Adding to her deep embarrassment, Bridget runs into Mark and his sophisticated colleague, Natasha. An amused Daniel rescues Bridget, and the two leave together and start dating. Daniel reveals to Bridget that he and Mark were formerly friends, but their friendship ended when he caught Mark having an affair with his then fiancée. Bridget and Daniel take a mini-break weekend together, during which they are to attend Bridget's family party, announced as a "Vicars and Tarts" costume party. They stay at a country inn where Mark and a disapproving Natasha, who are also staying, watch Bridget and Daniel enjoy themselves reciting bawdy limericks while rowing in a lake. In a moment of passion that night, Bridget declares her love for Daniel, who is evasive. The next morning, Daniel says he must return to London for work, leaving Bridget to attend the costume party alone, dressed as a Playboy Bunny; to her dismay the party theme was changed last minute to normal dress. When Bridget returns to London and drops in on Daniel, she discovers his American colleague, Lara, naked in his flat. Heartbroken, she quits her job; although Daniel urges her to reconsider, she rebuffs him in front of coworkers who cheer her retort. She searches for a new job and ultimately lands a role in television, where she becomes locally infamous for comically bungling human interest reports that endear her to her public. At a friend's dinner party, Bridget again crosses paths with Mark and Natasha. He privately confesses to Bridget that, despite her faults, he likes her for who she is. Sometime later, he allows Bridget an exclusive TV interview in a landmark legal case which boosts her career and prompts her to see him differently. Mark comes to Bridget's rescue when she vainly attempts to cook a gourmet birthday party dinner, and the two celebrate with Bridget's friends. A drunken Daniel arrives to reclaim Bridget's attention, which prompts Mark to challenge Daniel to a fight in the street. Bridget chides them both and leaves. Bridget's mother, Pamela, having left Bridget's father for an affair with a colleague, returns to the Jones family home. She off-handedly reveals that Mark and Daniel's falling-out resulted from Daniel (Mark's best friend since Cambridge University days) having an affair with Mark's now ex-wife, not as Daniel had falsely claimed. At the Darcys' ruby wedding anniversary, Bridget tells Mark that she also likes him for who he is, echoing his prior declaration. To her dismay, she learns during a toast that he and Natasha have accepted jobs in New York and are widely expected to become engaged. Interrupting the toast, Bridget awkwardly makes her distress over the news obvious. Bridget's friends rally to repair her broken heart with a surprise trip to Paris, but as they are about to leave, Mark appears at Bridget's flat declaring the New York trip off. Skipping Paris to stay with Mark, Bridget excuses herself to change in her bedroom. While waiting, Mark reads earlier unflattering opinions of him in her diary, left open on the table, and promptly leaves. Realising what has happened, Bridget runs after him in the snow. Finding him outside a nearby shop, Bridget apologises for what she wrote and says "it's only a diary". Mark reveals he only left to buy her a new one, which he gives her, "to make a fresh start", and they kiss. ==Cast==

Salman Rushdie, Julian Barnes, Jeffrey Archer and Honor Blackman have cameos in the film. Andrew Davies, screenwriter of the 1995 television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, collaborated on the screenplays for the 2001 and 2004 Bridget Jones films and Crispin Bonham-Carter, who played Mr. Bingley in that adaptation, appeared in a minor role. The self-referential in-joke between the projects convinced Colin Firth to accept the role of Mark Darcy, as it gave him an opportunity to ridicule and liberate himself from his Pride and Prejudice character. ==Production==

Working Title Films acquired the film rights of the novel in 1997 before it became a best-seller. Casting Actresses who were considered for the role of Bridget Jones were Helena Bonham Carter, Cate Blanchett, Rachel Weisz (who was considered too beautiful for the role), and Cameron Diaz. Toni Collette declined the role because she was on Broadway starring in The Wild Party at the time. Kate Winslet Director Sharon Maguire said of Zellweger, "I saw in Renee a gift few people have, that she was able to straddle comedy and emotion." To prepare for the role, Zellweger worked at the producers' request at London book publishers Picador as a trainee in the publicity department. However, her performance, including her south-eastern English accent, is widely considered to be of a high standard. In July 2000, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant were cast as the male leads. The director of the film, Maguire, one of Fielding's friends, was reportedly the base for the character "Shazzer" (English slang for Sharon), as mentioned in the behind the scenes commentary on the DVD. In the film, Shazzer is played by Sally Phillips. Filming Principal photography began on 16 May 2000 and concluded on 8 August 2000. The crew spent six weeks shooting in and around London. Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire served as the Darcys' home. After six weeks of shooting on location, the crew moved to Shepperton Studios in Surrey. ==Soundtrack==

The film's soundtrack was composed by Patrick Doyle. The soundtrack for ''Bridget Jones's Diary'' was produced by Nick Angel and Kathy Nelson and features two previously unreleased songs that became hit singles, including "Out of Reach" by Gabrielle and "It's Raining Men" by Geri Halliwell, the latter of which became Halliwell's fourth consecutive number-one hit single on the UK Singles Chart. Following the success of the first soundtrack, a second soundtrack was released, titled ''Bridget Jones's Diary 2: More Music from the Motion Picture and Other V.G. Songs''. ==Reception==

Box office ''Bridget Jones's Diary'' grossed $71.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $210.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $282 million, against a production budget of $25 million. Critical response On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 79% based on 164 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Though there was controversy over the choice of casting, Zellweger's Bridget Jones is a sympathetic, likable, funny character, giving this romantic comedy a lot of charm." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. earned universal acclaim. Mark Adams of The Hollywood Reporter praised Zellweger's knack for physical comedy, and The Washington Posts Stephen Hunter said the film lets her "show both her frantic awkwardness and her tender decency". The New York Timess Stephen Holden called the film "a delicious piece of candy whose amusing package is scrawled with bons mots distantly inspired by Jane Austen", and added "Ms. Zellweger accomplishes the small miracle of making Bridget both entirely endearing and utterly real. It is a performance so airy you barely sense the work that must have gone into it." The Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, describing it as "made against all odds into a funny and charming movie that understands the charm of the original, and preserves it". The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw commended Maguire for directing with "chutzpah and style". Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Hugh Grant is charming too, luxuriating in naughtiness, taking a holiday from his usual floppy, velvet romantic image as Bridget's caddish boss, Daniel Cleaver." Hunter praised Firth, writing "He's the complete Darcy, and he never wavers. There's no sentimentality, no flirtation with the audience, no final moment of pandering to the niceness gods; he's a cold geek all the way through." In contrast, Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com said the film is an improvement on the novel. ==Accolades==

''Bridget Jones's Diary'' was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Film, Renée Zellweger's performance was nominated for an Academy Award, the Golden Globe Award, and the Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award. Colin Firth was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and the Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, while Hugh Grant won the Evening Standard British Film Awards' Peter Sellers Award for Comedy and was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and the European Film Award – Jameson People's Choice Award – Best Actor. ==Musical adaptation==

In 2009, it was reported the film version was being adapted into a musical, set to be performed in London's West End, although no premiere date was set. British musician Lily Allen wrote the score and lyrics, and Stephen Daldry, best known for his Tony award-winning work on the West End and Broadway productions of Billy Elliot, was in talks to direct, joined by his co-worker Peter Darling, who was said to serve as choreographer. Workshops for the show began with television actress and star of Legally Blonde, Sheridan Smith, in the title role. To date, a full production of the musical has not been mounted. ==See also==