Bridget Jonesis one of the most iconic characters of the early 2000s, and although many comedies filmed in that era are very dated, theBridget Jonesmovies are still mostly hilarious. TheBridget Jonesmovies make some changes to the booksthat they are based on, but they all follow the titular character who is looking for love. Bridget Jones is played by Renée Zellweger, who adopted a convincing English accent to play the character. Her transformation and comic timing make theBridget Jonesseries some ofRenée Zellweger’s best movies, filled with moments that still hold up today.
Many scenes inearly 2000s comedies have not aged well, and theBridget Jonesmovies have their share of dated moments.The jokes about Bridget’s weight and the inherent sexism in her profession would not hold up today. However, most of the jokes in theBridget Jonesmovies have aged well, and Bridget Jones has been such a popular character that a fourthBridget Jonesbook adaptation,Mad About The Boy, has been filmed. The original movies may contain some dated running gags, but there are still many scenes that are hilarious and hold up today.
10Bridget Messes Up A Speech At An Important Event
Bridget Jones Is A Terrible Public Speaker
InBridget Jones’s Diary, Bridget is asked to speak at an event but goes to pieces when she can’t get the microphone to work. Things go from bad to worse when she tries to please the famous authors in the audience by crediting their work as “not bad” in her speech.Bridget Jones' funniest scenes often involve the titular character spectacularly messing up a seemingly simple task, and this is a perfect example, asBridget was only supposed to introduce a colleaguein one sentence, but also forgot his name.
Bridget’s terrible public speaking skills are a recurring joke in the movies, as this is the first of many speeches that she takes off-script.
The scene is the worst-case scenario for anyone embarrassed by public speaking, as Bridget is in front of accomplished people, her boss, her future love interest, and the guest of honor.Everything Bridget says makes the situation worse, and it’s such a funny scene because it is so mortifying. Bridget’s terrible public speaking skills are a recurring joke in the movies, as this is the first of many speeches that she takes off-script.
9Bridget Answers The Phone While She’s In Bed With Daniel
Bridget Jones is lovable because she is a flawed character, and one of her worst and funniest flaws is not knowing her audience. InBridget Jones’s Diary, Bridget begins a short-lived relationship with the terrible Daniel Cleaver, played byHugh Grant in one of his best villain performances. During an intimate moment with him, Bridget answers the phone, and her assumption that it is her friend calling leads to a low-stakes but very embarrassing moment that many people can relate to.
Bridget answers the phone while she’s in bed with Daniel, candidly sharing her situation before discovering that it is her mother calling. While many people would now make a similar mistake by sending an email to the wrong person rather than answering the phone, this is still funny as it is such a common mistake to make. To be fair to Bridget’s mother, who is an oversharer herself, she either doesn’t hear what Bridget says or pretends that she doesn’t.
8Bridget Tries To Mime In A Pharmacy
Bridget Jones Struggles To Explain What She Needs
Bridget is in the worst location possible when she realizes that she needs a pregnancy test inThe Edge of Reason. She is halfway up a mountain, pretending that she can ski. A stroke of luck means thatBridget’s legendary clumsiness sends her sliding down the mountainand right into a pharmacy. The scene is doubly funny because of the exaggerated slapstick comedy and the realistic problem that Bridget has in the pharmacy.
The scenes that have remained hilarious involve relatable scenarios. Many people who have traveled have encountered a funny or confusing language barrier, andthis scene plays out with Bridget trying and failing to mime the words “pregnancy test.“Bridget Jonesis a surprisingly nostalgic romantic comedy, as most people would now use a translation app to avoid this situation. While the scene has aged, it has become a moment of nostalgia, unlike the early 2000s body comment jokes.
7Bridget Stumbles Into The Wrong Yurt
This Mistake In The Dark Starts The Events Of Bridget Jones’s Baby
At the very beginning ofBridget Jones’s Baby, Bridget is at a loud and muddy music festival when she drunkenly stumbles into the wrong yurt. This is another classic case of Bridget not knowing her audience, as she believes that she is speaking to her friend when she starts talking about what she wants.Bridget is complaining about being single and wanting to have some fun with a man, and when the light turns on, her wish appears to be granted.
Bridget Jones Recap: 8 Things To Remember Before Mad About The Boy
As the release of “Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy” approaches, fans are remembering the events of the first several movies in the franchise.
It turns out that the disheveled Bridget is actually in the wrong yurt, which belongs to Jack, played by Patrick Dempsey. The scene is especially ridiculous because Bridget first accuses Jack of being in her yurt, despite hers being a much less stylish one. This scene combines Bridget’s luck with comedy, asBridget gets the night of fun she wants, but the festival looks very different in the morning. Bridget leaving a boot behind in the mud is a final visual gag that many festival-goers will identify with.
6The Iconic Bridget Jones Pants
Bridget Has Not Dressed For The Occasion
Bridget can’t decide between a pair of small and stylish underpants and some more comfortable but less attractive ones. In the most iconic scene inBridget Jones’s Diary, she picks the huge beige stretchy pair and only remembers this when she is getting undressed with Daniel for the first time.The “big pants” scene is one of the funniest in theBridget Jonesseries, and big comfy underpants are still associated with the character.
When Daniel undresses Bridget, describing her “silly little boots and silly little dress,” he discovers the giant beige pants just as she remembers them.
His surprise is what makes the scene so funny, with his line being one of thefunniest quotes in theBridget Jonesseries. Many of the outdated jokes inBridget Jonesconcern her fear of gaining weight, butthis scene is focused on the surprisingly mismatched pants rather than Bridget’s size. This, fortunately, allows it to still hold up today.
5Bridget Tries To Flirt With Mark Over Speakerphone
The Edge Of Reason Repeats Bridget Jones’s Most Common Gag
Bridget Jones often forgets to check who is listening when she’s on the phone, andeach of theBridget Jonesmovies features a version of this gagat least once. InBridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Bridget calls Mark Darcy, who she is dating, while he is at work. When Bridget compliments his body, Mark reveals that he is in a meeting with some important clients and that she’s on speakerphone.
Everyone has said something out loud that they wish they hadn’t, which makes Bridget’s tendency to do it very relatable. TheBridget Jonesmovies are funniest when they show these everyday momentsdialed up for maximum embarrassment, and as they often repeat their best gags, this predictability can add to the humor when it isn’t overused. The audience knows what’s coming and is waiting for the twist - that somebody important is listening.
4The Bunny Girl Outfit
This Scene Was A Common Early 2000s Comedy Trope
The modern costumes make it easy to forget thatBridget Jonesis an adaptation of Jane Austen’sPride and Prejudice. In one of the most well-known scenes inBridget Jones’s Diary,Bridget arrives at a canceled costume party dressed as a Playboy bunny girl.Bridget looks fantastic but she’s out of place, and everyone is staring, including the judgmental Mark Darcy and his stylish girlfriend, Natasha. Bridget calmly asks what happened, while her horrified internal monologue makes the scene extra hilarious.
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While romantic comedies are one of the most popular film genres with audiences, they’re not perfect, and some iconic scenes haven’t aged very well.
This scene is so famous that it is a trope of early 2000s comedy, right down to the bunny costume. InMean Girls, Cady arrives at a Halloween party expecting to fit in with her scary costume, but everyone else is dressed to impress, with the “queen bee” Regina George in a bunny outfit.Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods arrives at an event that she was told was a costume party, but discovers that it isn’t, while also dressed as a bunny girl. By strange coincidence,Legally BlondeandBridget Jonescame out in the same year.
3Dr Rawlings Steals The Show
Emma Thompson Plays A Gynecologist in Bridget Jones’s Baby
Emma Thompson plays Bridget Jones' gynecologist inBridget Jones’s Baby, and her hilarious advice and no-nonsense support make her one of the best and most likable characters in theBridget Jonesseries. This small part is one ofEmma Thompson’s funniest rolesbecause she behaves in a way that no real medical professional would, like re-enactingGroundhog Dayfor each scan with the potential fathers, and sending both men out of the room when Bridget goes into labor.
While Bridget is asking for all the gas, air, and drugs that can help her through her labor, Jack tells her to “think away the pain,” and the scene is ultimately satisfying in a hilarious way.Bridget’s flailing arm ends up punching Jack, and Mark Darcy calmly tells him to think away the pain as Dr Rawlings' incredulous expression says what most of the audience is likely thinking.
2Daniel And Mark Chase Each Other In A Fountain
Round Two Of Their Punch-Up Shows That Neither Man Can Fight
Daniel Cleaver and Mark Darcy had a fistfight inBridget Jones’s Diary, but when they go back for round two inBridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, it is even funnier. The scene is less violent than the one in the original movie, as the pair spend most of the time wrestling, chasing each other, falling over, and mis-aiming kicks. This failure to have a proper fight makes the scene hilarious, and the soundtrack adds to the ludicrous scene.
Neither fight is supposed to be taken too seriously by the audience, as both men have already been shown to be more angry than dangerous.
The fight inBridget Jones’s Diarywas set to the soundtrack of “It’s Raining Men”, whileThe Edge of Reason’s fountain fight was set to “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”. Neither fight is supposed to be taken too seriously by the audience, as both men have already been shown to be more angry than dangerous. The music, which doesn’t fit the scene, makes the payoff even funnier as Daniel and Mark fall into the fountain as expected.
1Bridget Invites Her Friends For A Fancy Dinner But Makes Blue Soup
Bridget Jones Finds That She Cannot Cook
When Bridget has her friends round for dinner, Tom raises a toast “to Bridget, who cannot cook, but who we love just as she is.“The scene is one of the most unexpectedly heartwarming in theBridget Jonesmovies, as she is surrounded by people who love her for all her faults, but the scenes leading up to it are hilarious. Bridget, having finally had some confidence-boosting professional success, gets overconfident about her cooking skills.
Bridget’s three-course meal idea quickly falls apart as the blender breaks, getting her mixture all over her. This is the moment that Mark Darcy arrives. This may not bethe most romantic scene in theBridget Jonesmovies, but it reveals their changing relationship as she invites him to stay, only to discover that the soup has turned blue.Only Bridget Jones could manage to make blue soup, and while many of the more outdated jokes in the movies have the audience laughing at her, this scene is meant to have the audience laughing with her, especially the viewers who also cannot cook.
