Bridget Jones's Baby

Stars: RenÃ©e Zellweger, Colin Firth, Patrick Dempsey, Gemma Jones, Jim Broadbent, Emma Thompson, Sally Phillips, Sarah Solemani, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Neil Pearson, Joanna Scanlan, Shirley Henderson, Ed Sheeran, Patrick Malahide, Celia Imrie

Director: Sharon Maguire

The worst of the three Bridget Jones films, this latter-day straggler is often more tear-jerker than romcom. And this chickflick is one of those films where an awful feeling all too soon creeps over you as you realise it isn't going to get any better.

Bridget Jones (Zellweger, still game) is now 43 and somewhat slimmed down, but still single, working as the producer of a TV news show. At a festival, she wanders into the wrong tent and meets date guru Jack (Dempsey), with whom she has sex. Than, at a Christening, she makes a re-acquaintance with Mr Darcy (Firth) and has sex with him too.

A series of predictable blunders leads to her losing her job, which is inconvenient as she has just discovered that she's pregnant, and doesn't know which of the two lovers is the father. Hilarious, what?

Thompson writes herself a few tart lines as the doctor in charge of Bridget's pregnancy, but the dialogue is otherwise awkward and strained, and the TV interview disasters embarrass us more than they do Bridget.

Zellweger, as appealing as ever, does her best, but Imrie has almost nothing to do and both Firth and Dempsey look as if they would rather be somewhere else. Wisely, Hugh Grant appears only as a corpse at his own funeral. The only other corpse around is the film; everyone here is too old for this and it shows - apart from one funny moment when the two expectant fathers stagger into hospital carrying a very pregnant Bridget and dump her unceremoniously on the reception desk.

David Quinlan

UK 2016. UK Distributor: Universal (StudioCanal/Miramax). Colour by deluxe.
123 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 2.

Review date: 11 Sep 2016