Bridget Jones's Baby

It's been a long time coming - 12 years in fact - but the third instalment with the endearing Bridget Jones is finally here and worth the wait. The script has three credits - author of the original book, Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer (I Give It a Year), and Emma Thompson, who also plays Bridget's obstetrician with typical dry wit. At the helm is director Sharon Maguire.

It's well known that Renee Zellweger put on several kilos to get in the right shape for the first two films, Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, but Bridget's actually at her ideal weight when we meet her at the grand old age of 43. She's about to get a whole lot pudgier thanks to some rotting condoms that are way past their use-by date. As the film's title gives the game away, it's no spoiler to say that Ms. Jones finds herself up the duff. The big mystery is the identity of the father. The two possible baby daddies are Patrick Dempsey as wealthy business mogul, Jack, or Colin Firth as eternal favourite, Mark Darcy.

And so begins a competition for Bridget's affections as the two men step up just in case they happen to be the sperminator. Meanwhile, Bridget juggles her relationship dilemmas with pressure at work as producer of a TV news show with a demanding new boss.

Inevitably, we end up in the delivery room with Bridget having excruciating contractions, but the question is, who ends up in there with her holding her hand? There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments along the way, and if the preview audience's reaction was anything to go by, Bridget Jones's Baby is likely to be a smashing box office success.