Based on Helen Fielding’s Pride and Prejudice-inspired novel, romantic comedy Bridget Jones’s Diary marks the 25th anniversary of its theatrical release.

Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) is 32, single, and charmingly imperfect, worrying about her weight and habits while working as a publicity assistant in London. She spends much of her time daydreaming about her womanizing boss, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant). At her parents’ New Year’s party, she reconnects with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), a childhood acquaintance and barrister. They immediately clash—he finds her foolish, she finds him arrogant. Determined to improve her life, Bridget begins keeping a diary to track her attempts to quit smoking and drinking, lose weight, and ultimately find her “Mr. Right.”

Bridget and Daniel flirt at work leading up to a major book launch, where her clumsy speech embarrasses her in front of literary figures and Mark, alongside his colleague Natasha (Embeth Davidtz). Daniel helps her save face, and they start dating. During a weekend mini-break, Mark and Natasha witness Bridget and Daniel’s playful antics at a country inn. When Bridget declares her love, Daniel is evasive and abruptly leaves, forcing her to attend a family party dressed as a Playboy Bunny after a last-minute theme change.

Back in London, Bridget discovers Daniel with a colleague and heartbreakingly quits her job. She eventually finds work in television, becoming a local sensation for her bungled yet endearing reports. At a dinner party, she reconnects with Mark, who admits he likes her despite her flaws. Their relationship grows, including moments like Mark rescuing her from a disastrous birthday dinner. A drunken Daniel returns to reclaim her attention, prompting a confrontation that leaves Bridget exasperated but determined.

Bridget learns the truth about Mark and Daniel’s falling-out: Daniel had an affair with Mark’s ex-wife. During the Darcys’ ruby anniversary, Bridget struggles with Mark’s apparent engagement to Natasha, but her friends plan a Paris trip to cheer her up. Mark surprises her, and despite a diary mishap revealing her earlier unflattering opinions, they reconcile. Mark gifts her a new diary, signaling a fresh start, and they kiss in the snow, finally together.

Renée Zellweger received an Oscar nomination for her performance in Bridget Jones’s Diary, only to later win Oscars for Cold Mountain and Judy. When I pressed play on the film in March, it had been many years since I had watched it, let alone the sequel. So much time had passed that I had forgotten her character was British. And yet, the actress pulls it off. I mean, sure, her accent might be closer to other parts of English society, but you could have fooled me. I’m not an expert at British accents—my only knowledge of them comes from media exposure, especially four lads from Liverpool.

But in spite of the casting controversies upon its release, Bridget Jones’s Diary remains a charming film in large part because of Zellweger, Firth, and Grant. We’re not clued in on what’s going on between Darcy and Daniel until late in the film, and that’s the point at which one begins to root for Bridget ending up with Darcy rather than her boss. There’s this whole undercurrent of tension between Bridget and Darcy, but because he’s with someone else, the idea of them getting together never sounds like a sure thing.

The interesting thing about watching Bridget Jones’s Diary now is seeing just how much has changed in the past two and a half decades. Much of the office culture plot would have to be cut, and neither Bridget nor Daniel could have any kind of office romance without HR signing off on it. In short, a womanizing boss like Daniel Cleaver wouldn’t be allowed to keep his job. Yeah, he’s charismatic and that plays in his favor, but at the end of the day, a jerk is a jerk is a jerk. I love how Bridget gives him a piece of her mind before she leaves for another employer.

What was supposed to be a costume party was changed to a normal dress party at the last minute. Only the person who was supposed to tell Bridget did not end up telling her, and as such, she arrives dressed as a Playboy Bunny. That she was even remotely excited to attend such an outing while dressed as a Playboy Bunny speaks to the wider culture in early 2001. If you made Bridget Jones’s Diary today, there’s no way they’d include this without someone being ripped for being a bad feminist.

There’s something about still being single upon entering one’s 30s. In Bridget’s case, she’s 32 years old, and while she fantasizes about her boss, reality forces her to turn her life around. When Bridget Jones’s Diary was first released, if someone was single and in their 30s, chances were that people assumed they had some sort of problem. Nowadays, it doesn’t quite feel so taboo to be single. That being said, there is a shidduch crisis among Haredi Jews, meaning that they remain single for longer and don’t get married when others do. I’m in my early 40s and still single, but being trans and struggling with my own orientation for many years is a factor.

This isn’t to say that anxieties don’t exist because that is something that Bridget Jones’s Diary gets right. G-d knows that it’s not lost on me that so many of my friends got married after college and started having children. Throw in being trans and it just adds to the challenges. As if I wasn’t already dealing with society’s expectations of needing to get married in my 20s, the reality was that it just wasn’t going to happen. Even now, I wonder if Mr. Right is out there or if I need to move cities in order to find him.

When it comes to being single in one’s 30s, I wonder how much of this has to do with the standards that Hollywood and magazines have placed upon our culture at large. You could have a male actor in his late 40s or early 50s dating someone young enough to be his daughter and somehow this is okay. All in all, it’s probably harder on single women than men as people get older. But the older people get and they are still single, one begins to wonder if their personality could be turning people off. Not that I would know because I’ve never really put myself out there. But I digress.

Even 25 years later, Bridget Jones’s Diary remains charming, funny, and surprisingly relatable. Bridget’s insecurities and triumphs still resonate, whether you’re navigating office politics, romantic misadventures, or the pressures of being single. While certain cultural elements feel dated, the heart of the film—Bridget’s humor, honesty, and courage to live life imperfectly—keeps it a rom-com worth revisiting.

DIRECTOR: Sharon Maguire
SCREENWRITERS: Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies, Richard Curtis
CAST: Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones

Miramax Films released Bridget Jones’s Diary in theaters on April 13, 2001. Garde: 4/5

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