Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (UK/USA, 2025)

At some point, Universal Pictures apparently recognized that the fourth Bridget Jones chapter lacks an audience. As a result, instead of opening it in U.S. theaters, where it likely would have sunk without a trace, they pivoted and dumped it onto the Peacock streaming service, where it arrived with minimal fanfare. One can make a compelling case that the series was played out after the first movie. The second film, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, was a blatant cash-grab. Installment #3, Bridget Jones’ Baby, marked an improvement over the first sequel but didn’t offer a compelling reason to bring back the character. This newest (and presumably final) episode, Bridget Jones: Mad About a Boy, feels the need to shred the core of its predecessors in order to avoid regurgitating past plot points. I could see where this might work as a throw-away dramady for someone who hasn’t seen any of the previous Bridget Jones films. But for loyal viewers, this is a cross between a gut-punch and an insult.

Narratively, the decision to kill off Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) is a necessity. Emotionally, it’s unforgivable. And the movie doesn’t really give the viewer an opportunity to mourn the off-screen loss of the character (who has been dead for four years by the time the opening credits roll) before sending Bridget off on a new series of domestic and romantic misadventures. Further complicating matters, Mark shows up a few times as a ghostly apparition for no apparent reason other than (a) because Colin Firth was willing to collect a paycheck for what amounted to a day or two’s work, and (b) it’s a good way to manipulate viewers.

Mark’s death takes the air out of the film’s sails before it gets going and even the re-appearance of Hugh Grant’s Daniel Cleaver (who has retained his feckless charm but lost a lot of his edge) can’t enliven things in part because he’s not given much to do. It’s hard to become invested in Bridget’s new romances when we’re still having trouble shaking off her old ones. There are a couple of strong new additions to the cast – Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Scott Walker, an elementary school science teacher who understands chemistry, and Nico Parker’s Chloe, the perfect nanny. Pretty much everyone from the earlier films makes an appearance or two, including characters who are now deceased. Renee Zellweger wears Bridget’s skin like an old, comfortable coat. But the fabric is threadbare and some of the neuroses don’t work nearly as well with a woman well into middle-age as they did with a thirtysomething spinster.

During the course of Mad About the Boy, Bridget embarks upon two new romances, her first since Mark was killed in a terrorist attack in the Sudan. She meets Rockster (Leo Woodall) on-line and begins a virtual relationship before agreeing to meet him in person. The decision to explore a torrid love affair between the mid-50s Bridget and the late-20s Rockster is an obvious nod to the longstanding motion picture “tradition” of an older man wooing a much younger women, with the genders flippantly flipped. Lack of chemistry, rather than the age difference, is the reason why these two never feel genuinely connected. Bridget is much better matched with Scott.

To be fair, there are some individual vignettes that work but the movie as a whole feels flat. Often, the primary purpose of a sequel (aside from financial considerations) is to provide views with a chance to reunite with characters they have come to love over the years. Growth and change are desirable, but perhaps not too much of either. This re-introduction to Bridget’s world is depressing. Mark’s death creates a pall that lingers over the entire film from beginning to end. Attempts at wit and humor seem half-hearted at best. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy isn’t a terrible movie; it’s mediocre at worst. But it never should have been made.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (UK/USA, 2025)