Rene Zellweger stars in the new BUENA VISTA release, “BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY”, and with every new film she does, her acting range increases.  She’s nothing short of terrific!  Based on a very popular novel, Bridget is a young woman, a little overweight, smoking and drinking too much, and not finding the right man in her life.  She begins to fall in love with her supervisor, and a friend from her past begins to complicate things by falling in love with her.  While the love triangle is a little predictable, the film is so good natured, and the acting so natural, “BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY” manages to rise high above the limitations of the script and become one of the best romantic comedies of the past few years. 
 
The film moves at a brisk pace, and it’s never boring, a rare feat for romantic comedies in general.   
 

BUENA VISTA has preserved the film’s original 2.35:1 aspect ratio with 16:9 enhancement.  The colors are solid and there’s terrific detail in every scene.  The contrast is also excellent with deep blacks and grays. 
 
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundmix is fairly restrained.  While there are directional effects for the front soundstage, rear effects are preserved mostly for the film’s score.   The dialogue is well focused and free from distortion. 

First-time director Sharon Maguire provides a running commentary and although there are some long passages of silence, she provides some interesting and entertaining insight into the film’s production as well as her own challenges of bringing a popular novel to the screen when there was so much controversy about the casting before the film even began production.   

There are 7 deleted scenes, and all are presented in 2.35:1 as well as with 16:9 enhancement, an unusual feature on dvds!  The image looks comparable to the film during these scenes, and the soundmix is also on par with the rest of the actual film’s mix.  Several of the scenes are quite funny, but there’s no optional commentary discussing why the scenes were cut. 

 

A featurette is also included, and while brief, it offers interviews with most of the cast, the director, and the author of the novel. There are also some behind-the-scenes moments for fans to enjoy.

There are also some music videos, all-in-all, making this a great “Special Edition”.