Genre-Hop Review: Bridget Jones's Diary

A lighthearted post for the holiday season! Watching the end-of-year classic Bridget Jones’s Diary (again) got me thinking about when the story, not the writer, does the genre hop.

It’s typical to say, “I liked the movie, but the book is better.”

Think of Jane Austen adaptations. They can be visually appealing and romantic – but there’s no translating Austen’s unique, often sardonic voice or depth of characterization to film. When you read Pride and Prejudice, it’s not just about the plot, entertaining as that is. It’s about the family fallout of the Bennet’s bad marriage. About two sisters who love each other despite (and sometimes because of) their differences. About figuring out what you owe your family vs. what you owe yourself. About being willing to own up to mistakes. And so on.

So you might expect that an update of Pride and Prejudice would also offer a journey best pursued on the page. For me, the most famous of the pack – Bridget Jones’s Diary – is one of the few cases where the film is far, far better than the book. I read the novel once, and that was more than enough. Books take us inside the minds of their characters – especially ones written in diary form.

Bridget Jones’s head, it turns out, is not a place I want to be.

She’s whiny and vapid and irritatingly inept. I felt my brain melting page by page. I finished out of sheer stubbornness. My apologies to the millions of readers who love the book – and to Helen Fielding, who made a bundle from it. Just doesn’t work for me.

But that movie – what’s cringe-y on the page becomes endearing on film. Good screenwriting accounts for some of that. The rest of it is casting. Renée Zellweger is sweet, unpretentious, and very likeable. I probably should offer a few examples of the way grating scenes in the novel transform into gold on screen, but I’m not opening that book again to find them. You’re either with me on this or you’re not.

[Sidebar on casting an American as Bridget – that pissed off plenty of British actors and viewers. I say, too bad – American films and TV are loaded with Brits, Aussies, and Kiwis passing as Yanks – check out True Blood, The Walking Dead, House, and more. You knew Sookie Stackhouse/Ana Paquin is a New Zealander, right? Rick Grimes/Andrew Lincoln an Englishman? House/Hugh Laurie, also English? If not – surprise!]

As for the rest of the cast – loading it with actors from the many Austen adaptations was genius. There’s no way to capture this cinematic layering on the page:

* Mark Darcy is played by the handsome BBC Darcy, Colin Firth. He swaps a wet t-shirt for a horrid Christmas sweater (‘jumper’ to any Brits out there). And gets a lot more action than horse-riding and opening his wallet for Lizzy’s shameless sister Lydia.

* BJD is Hugh Grant’s best movie, hands down. He is clearly living it up after all the stiffness required for uptight Edward Ferrars in Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility. He’s a delightful cad.

* Gemma Jones goes from a sad, silly widow in that same S&S to being Bridget’s frisky mum. It’s one of the best Austen update twists: the runaway sister becomes a runaway parent.

* Embeth Davidtz, Mark Darcy’s overbearing fiancée Natasha, played the sultry Mary Crawford in Patricia Rozema’s Mansfield Park. She’s the one cast member who probably had more fun in the 19th century than in BJD.

* The BBC Bingley, Crispin Bonham-Carter, makes an appearance at that disastrous book launch and in another scene. Spotting him made me hunt for more Austen cameos, but if they’re in there, I’ve missed them.

* Plus, a special bonus . . . co-writer Andrew Davies is none other than the man behind the BBC P&P.

The casting one long in-joke for fans of Austen films. That alone helps the movie top the book.

But there’s more. BJD also does what film does best – hilarious, memorable images. A few of my favorites:

· Those tight shots of Bridget’s natural enemy, the bathroom scale

· Bridget’s booty sliding down the fireman’s pole, again and again and again

· Poor spinster Bridget’s brutal eating by wild dogs

· Daniel Cleaver taking a dive in the lake – stealing Darcy’s wet t-shirt spotlight

· The granny panties vs. the “genuinely tiny knickers”

You can’t fully admire the imagery, however, without the cherry-on-top of what makes the film better than the book: the soundtrack. Counting backwards, here’s a Top Five. Skip past here if you’d like to avoid spoilers!

#5: “Fly Me to the Moon” – This croony classic makes a great backdrop for the cocktail party originally meant to be a Tarts & Vicars do. Love that bunny tail, and the sulky Bishop.

#4: “Ain’t No River Wide Enough” – Bridget’s genuinely tiny knickers are at last on full display as she charges through the streets of London in the chilly night air. Quite uplifting.

#3: “Respect” – An anthem for every one of us who’s ever wanted to quit a job in style – and thumb your nose at a cheater.

#2: “All By Myself”— I’ll admit I’m irked by the ‘tragic spinster’ element of the plot – Austen’s real Lizzy would never been so desperate for a man. But who can resist Bridget in her jammies, playing air guitar with a champagne glass?

#1: “It’s Raining Men” — Hallelujah! You might contest the order of #5 through #2 – but the girl-fight between Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver has simply got to be everybody’s favorite. First-rate comic cinema.

Every one of these movie moments is twice the fun with the music – words on the page just don’t cut it with Bridget Jones. So have I made you want to watch the film again? Or for the first time, if you didn’t peek at the spoilers? Go have fun!

As for those sequels – we shall not speak of them. Instead I say – Happy Holidays :)

Stop back on December 16th for a guest post by actress/writer Karen Eterovich – in honor of Jane Austen’s 246th birthday! And in the New Year, for posts on process editing for a fellow writer and beating writer’s block – plus guest posts by Michael David Lukas, Susanna Craig, and more.