Review
BRIDGET'S BACK
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is a riot of hilarious silliness… even if toyboy Leo Woodall is just shallow eye candy
Our reviewer says this big-screen hit is the perfect antidote to stale PC-obsessed comedies
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
(15) 125 mins
★★★★☆
2
2
WHEN Britain’s new heartthrob actor Leo Woodall was asked if he felt “objectified” he replied that he couldn’t help asking himself: “Am I that guy?”
Judging by the fourth and (allegedly) final Bridget Jones movie, Leo need not spend any more time agonising over that question.
Because, really, the 28-year-old star of One Day is just eye candy.
Charisma or screen presence certainly aren’t among Leo’s attributes.
But his character, Roxster, is key to some of the biggest laugh-out-loud gags in this very welcome return for the much-loved bumbling Bridget.
A scene where the well-toned actor takes immediate action on seeing a helpless dog paddling for dear life in a swimming pool is comedy gold.
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That is one of many times where the director decided it was absolutely essential for “the Roxster” to get his top off.
As always, though, it is the brilliant Renee Zellweger as Bridget who drives the humour along.
At the start of Mad About the Boy, the avid diary keeper is four years widowed following the death of her husband Mark Darcy.
While stuck up a tree trying to rescue her two young children, our heroine first meets the chivalrous Roxster.
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As that passionate romance burns brightly, Bridget develops a simmering mutual affection for her kids’ science teacher Mr Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor).
Cue lots of moments of embarrassment, with the whistle-blowing educator seeing sexual health leaflets falling out her daughter’s bag or standing behind Bridget as she buys a basket full of condoms in the pharmacy.
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Chiwetel, who also goes topless, is everything that Leo isn’t - which is a strong actor able to find depth and empathy in even the most ridiculous lines.
The problem is that, as his character comes more into Bridget’s life, the humour starts to drop off.
That’s not necessarily Chiwetel’s fault, it's that the script often veers towards tear-jerking moments about coping with grief when Mr Wallaker is around.
Director Michael Morris, though, carefully plays his comedy trump card to ensure Mad About the Boy never gets too mawkish.
Hugh Grant pops up here and there as the caddish Daniel Cleaver to make jokes about shagging the babysitter.
There’s little about Mad About the Boy which is original, but good old-fashioned bawdy humour and pratfalls are rare in cinema these days.
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It’s a riot of silliness that sticks two fingers up at anyone worrying about men being “objectified.”
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is in cinemas now,
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