Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones is a single woman in her early thirties who does not have quite as much control over her life as she would like. She drinks too much, smokes too much and weighs too much. She is on a desperate hunt for the man in her life, or indeed just a man in her life. The dream man is the dashing publishing editor Daniel Cleaver, who on top of that is Bridget's boss, but is Daniel in reality anything more than a superficial ladykiller?

Daniel's opposite is the buttoned-up and taciturn lawyer Mark Darcy, whom Bridget finds utterly boring and unsexy - at least to begin with. For those familiar with the excellent British TV series "Pride and Prejudice", based on Jane Austen's novel, the outcome of the story comes as no great surprise, since Colin Firth plays exactly the same type in the series as in the film. He even has the same name.

Bridget Jones's Diary is an immensely funny and intelligent comedy. The plot is perhaps not the most sophisticated in the world. It consists more or less of a series of hilariously funny episodes that are either deeply romantic, deeply embarrassing or both at once.

Yes, as a woman you can only surrender unconditionally to a film with both Hugh Grant and Colin Firth in the lead roles. Renee Zellweger in the female lead is, however, the real highlight of the film. Even though she is American, her Bridget is quintessentially British and very human.