Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy Review

She's back and better than ever

So, billboards are touring around the city on double-decker buses with the quote “The Best Bridget Yet” and, after spending my Valentine’s evening in a packed cinema in Peckham, surrounded by couples, friends, and solo cinema-goers, I have to say… the endorsement is spot on.

There aren’t many films that get an audience laughing, sobbing, whooping (every time Leo Woodall took his top off), and cheering all in the space of two hours. The Bridget Jones films have always been classics (well, apart from the third, which wobbled a bit), but this fourth one? If it really is the last, it has outdone them all.

This film remains brilliantly, ludicrously British. The dry wit, the self-deprecation, the ability to find humour in absolute disaster all shines through, proving that no matter how much time has passed, Bridget is still one of us.

Mad About the Boy gives us a Bridget who’s older, wiser and still a hopeless romantic but, now, with a solid dose of self-respect. She’s got two kids, she’s grieving the loss of her husband, but she remains true to the woman we’ve grown up watching. Messy, hilarious, and somehow always ending up in slapstick-laden situations.

Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) is back. He’s older but still a shameless lothario, though secretly envious of the things Bridget has: real friendships, proper connections, and a close bond with her kids. He’s still as outrageous as ever. At one point, he teaches the children how to make a cocktail called a Dirty Bitch… no, wait, a Filthy Bitch. He’s basically become that weird uncle who used to squeeze Bridget’s bum, but somehow, you can’t help but love him still. Her original gang all make an appearance, and their dynamic is as warm and familiar as ever.

Then there’s the much younger man in her life (Leo Woodall, aka Roxster), who, after ghosting her, suddenly realises he actually does want to make a go of things. At one point, he makes a comment about their age gap: wishing things were different, that she was younger… but Bridget’s having none of it. She claps back with something along the lines of, “I wish I had a time machine so you could catch up with me.”

And on that note, the film does a great job of exploring this intergenerational relationship. When Roxster (Woodall) asks Bridget if he can kiss her, she laughs and says something like, “Your generation loves to ask.” It’s warm, funny, and genuinely charming, rather than the usual clunky Gen Z parodies we get in films these days.

This film has all the silliness, sexiness, and classic Bridget chaos we know and love, but it also feels like the most real she’s ever been. A bit battered by loss, sure, but she knows who she is now and isn’t going to settle for less. And for that reason, I agree: this is the best Bridget yet.

And yes, of course, we get our happy ending. The film ends perfectly and the soundtrack outdoes itself yet again closing with a beautiful, original track by Olivia Dean.

Overall, Mad About the Boy does something magical. It makes us fall in love with Bridget Jones all over again.