Mad the latest in a tired franchise
This big-screen adaptation of Helen Fielding’s Bridget
Jones: Mad About the Boy is – and I’m being kind – a mixed bag.
While there are some undeniably poignant moments, for the large part the film
is collection of remnants, scenes and events, far too reminiscent of others
from previous entries.
Jones (Renee Zellweger) is barely holding it together after
the sudden, tragic death of her husband Mark (Colin Firth). Her two children,
Billy and Mabel (Casper Knopf and Mila Jankovic, respectively), seem to be
coping well, and her friends – Shazzer (Sally Phillips), Jude (Shirley Henderson)
and Tom (James Callis) – do their level best to distract her. Among other
things, they set up an online dating profile for Bridget, which gets the
interest of a much-younger man (Leo Woodall).
However, he’s not the only one who ends up on our heroine’s
radar. She spots a new teacher, Mr. Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor), at her kids’
school and it is not love at first sight. A stickler for rules and relying far
too much on his whistle to herd his young charges, his uptight demeanor
immediately clashes with Jones’. And then there’s the ever-present Daniel
Cleaver (Hugh Grant) who, inexplicably, has become one of her closet friends,
babysitting when need be and offering up, at times, surprisingly solid advice.
As with the previous Jones’ entries, Boy relies far
too much on physical comedy and elaborate misunderstandings. Finding Bridget,
once again, embarrassed because of her big mouth or bad timing, has run its
course. There’s nothing fresh about her unknowingly revealing to a large crowd
that she just had incredible sex, nor her getting stuck halfway up a tree in a
foolish attempt to follow her kids. Michael Morris’ tepid pacing certainly
doesn’t help, as we slog from one predictable moment to the next.
That being said, there are a few moments that work, indicating
the film could have been so much more. A sequence in which Jones is caught up
in a reverie regarding her late husband, a montage of moments from previous
films playing out, is quite beautiful and poignant. Equally effective is the
relationship that develops between Wallaker and Billy, the latter providing the
grieving young boy an unexpected lifeline.
The cast, which also includes the return of Jim Broadbent
and Gemma Jones as Jones’ parents and the addition of Emma Thompson as her
cheeky gynecologist, all bring a degree of professionalism to their roles that
helped me tough it out until the end. Of
course, there are no guarantees Fielding won’t check in on Jones again. I, for
one, am hoping that her latest happy ending is a permanent one. We’ve both had
our fair share of trauma where her adventures are concerned. Streaming on
Peacock.
Little original in shallow Gorge
I suppose it’s natural to be a bit paranoid about your
health as you get older. Pushing 60, if I forget why I walked in the kitchen,
I’m convinced it’s the onset of Alzheimer’s; recurring stiffness or aches in my
hands are obviously the first signs of arthritis; a consistently upset stomach
means an ulcer. As I was watching Scott
Derrickson’s The Gorge, it became increasingly obvious to me that my
greatest fear was being realized – I was going blind. Surely that was the
reason why I was able to faintly see shadowy figures moving about or at times,
literally nothing at all. Best-case scenario, glaucoma was setting in. How else
could I explain that it seemed as though I was looking through a sink full of
dirty dishwater?
That Derrickson’s latest magnum opus was one of the visually
murkiest films I’ve ever seen is only one of its many problems. A pastiche of
worn-out ideas, this big budget sci-fi feature is the very definition of what’s
wrong with populist, big budget Hollywood productions. Streaming on Apple TV+,
this is a bloated, unimaginative, dull movie you’ll be glad you can see from
the comfort of your own home: having the fast-forward button at hand is the
only way to get through this one.
A romance-science fiction hybrid, Miles Teller and Anya
Taylor-Joy are Levi and Drasa, respectively, two assassins who’ve each been
given a unique assignment. Seems there’s a gorge somewhere in Europe that has
two guard posts on each side, both housed by a single operative, who’s been
contracted to keep watch for a year. Just what they’re supposed to be watching
out for is not known, but if anything starts stirring, they’re ordered to kill
it with extreme prejudice.
With no radio or internet available, Levi and Drasa begin
communicating by spying on each other through their binoculars, eventually
writing notes to one another on handy, large, easy-to-read pads of paper. Of
course, loneliness and mutual attractions lead them to break protocol and
before you know it, Levi is shooting a zipline across the gorge so he can slide
over for a dinner of rabbit pie.
As they say, timing is everything and after 80 years of
nothing happening, the things in the gorge decide to ruin their budding romance
and begin creeping out of the ooze. Before you know it, the pair find
themselves mucking about in a shadowy, fog-ridden environment, terrorized by
giant insects, men made from trees and who knows what else.
I have to admit, the answer as to what is in the gorge and
just what is creeping around in it, is rather clever. However, its impact is
dulled by the arduous journey to get to the big reveal. Slow to the point of
tedium, the film is cluttered with far too many action scenes, the two stars
shooting and shooting and shooting the creatures that plague them. Redundancy
does not a good movie make, a lesson Derrickson and far too many of today’s
action movie directors are allowed to ignore again and again.
If you are fans of Teller or Taylor-Joy, there may be enough
here to keep your interest. They both deserve better, and based on their work
here and in previous films, you’ll likely devote more time to The Gorge than you should. Yet, charismatic and charming as they are, they’re unable to
salvage this muddle of half-seen threats and tired plot points. Streaming on
Apple TV+.
This article appears in Combating human trafficking.
