Bridget Jones’s Diary

By EWAN McDONALD

(Herald rating: * * * * )

Smoking too much? Drinking too much? Eating too much? Worrying too much about the men in (or not in) your life? This is your life, Bridget Jones, on the morning of your 32nd birthday.

Bridget, a plump London office worker, is determined to put one, two, or all of the above to rights. Her campaign starts unhappily when her mother introduces her to the devastatingly handsome Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), who thinks Bridget is a "verbally incontinent spinster". At work she swaps salacious e-mails with her boss, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), then begins an affair with him.

As Bridget diaries her path from "tragic spinster" to "wanton sex goddess" the movie becomes a string of funny chapters: Bridget goes in costume to a party where she thought the theme was "Tarts and Vicars"; Bridget stumbles into a job on a TV news show and makes a premature entrance down the fire pole (right); Bridget has to decide at the beginning of an evening whether sexy underwear or tummy-crunching underwear will do her more good at the end of the evening.

Brave casting pays off in this oh-so-English comedy. Renee Zellwegger, who is not plump and comes from Texas, put on 8kg (doesn't 20lbs sound more remarkable?) and a British accent to play Bridget, to the chagrin of a host of Limey actresses who would have died (or dieted) for the part. Outside Zellwegger are dependable Brit-comics, notably Grant. He played a male Bridget in Notting Hill; here he's a cad, lying to Bridget about Darcy and cheating with a girl from the New York office.

Video rental: Out now

DVD sales: Out now

* DVD features: Alternate endings; commentary with Sharon Maguire (director); behind the scenes feature (9 mins); Bridget Jones articles; music videos — Shelby Lynne, Killin' Kind; Gabrielle, Out of Reach; deleted scenes (12 mins).