<Review by: Sailesh Ghelani>

Directed by Sharon Maguire. Starring Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, Patrick Dempsey, Emma Thompson, Sarah Solemani, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Celia Imrie, Shirley Henderson, Sally Phillips, James Callis, Neil Pearson

Running Time: 2 hours

Did you know this is the third movie in the series? I totally forgot about the in-between one, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. Totally don’t remember that and the first one (Bridget Jones’s Diary) was about 15 years ago so good luck remembering what happened in that one as iconic as the weepy, desperately-seeking love Renee Zellweger is.

There’s no Hugh Grant in this third one though. Instead he’s been replaced by Grey’s Anatomy star Patricky ‘McDreamy’ Dempsey. So that’s why they had to kill him off on the show, so he could become a movie star. Well it was probably a good call considering he’s about the only good thing in the film.

After 10 years of on-again-off-again with Mr Darcy (Colin Firth), Bridget is alone and well into her 40s. But ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral-type occasions’ bring face-to-face again. But she’s just had a fling in the tent of some rich billionaire tech guy: Jack (Dempsey) so she’s not desperate anymore. Mr Darcy on the other hand… Two random shags later and she’s all knocked up, clueless as to who the father is. And so the story goes in true romantic-comedy fashion so you’ll know what exactly comes next and I won’t be going in to it, suffice it to say it’s as predictable as you can imagine and could have been a half hour shorter in running time.

As unsurprising as it is, Bridget Jones’s Baby is funny. Now I attribute this solely to the Brit humour. I actually felt guilty when I let out a laugh due to how bad I thought the film was. Dempsey is so divine in his role that you can’t help but root for him to be with Bridget. The crotchety but dependable Mr Darcy has lost his charm.

And I wonder why it’s totally okay for a woman to let two men think the baby is theirs without telling them the truth and just having fun with them? If a guy did something equivalent he’d be called a two-timing bastard and male chauvinist pig! Something to be said about the double standards of so-called ‘equality’ between the sexes.

Thanks to some funny small roles played by Emma Thompson, Sarah Solemani, Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones we get a break from the monotony of guy vs guy, who will win her heart antics. If you’re a fan of the original and someone who hasn’t seen this plot been done 100 times before then sure, go for it.

PS: The wonderful Celia Imrie was totally wasted in her bit role here.