Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Album Description
Fresh from her 2004 Oscar win, Renée Zellweger reprises the title role in the romantic screen comedy Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason. The film also boasts a sensational companion soundtrack from Geffen Records featuring great pop legends and newer rising stars, among them Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Rufus Wainwright & Dido, Carly Simon, Jamie Cullum, Sting & Annie Lennox and more.
With Nick Angel serving as music supervisor/executive producer, the soundtrack Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason is a pop music lover’s delight. Newly recorded songs appearing on the cd include: a cover of Sade’s song “Your Love Is King,” by rising U.K. star Will Young; “Misunderstood,” a new tune by Robbie Williams; “Everlasting Love,” a newly recorded cover by Jamie Cullum, “Stop!,” by UK artist Jamelia; Kate McGarrigle’s “I Eat Dinner,” recorded as a duet by her son Rufus Wainwright & Dido; and a newly recorded version of Sting’s “We’ll Be Together” by Sting and Annie Lennox. Other songs on the soundtrack include: “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” by Kylie Minogue; “Super Duper Love (Are You Diggin’ On Me?)” from Joss Stone; “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word” by Mary J Blige; “Crazy In Love” by Beyonce; the classic “I’m Not In Love” by 10CC; Carly Simon’s hit “Nobody Does It Better;” “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” from The Darkness; Minnie Ripperton’s timeless “Loving You;” and “Bridget’s Theme” by Harry Gregson Williams.
Based on the novel by Helen Fielding and directed by Beeban Kidron, Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason stars Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth (all reprising their roles from Bridget Jones’s Diary) along with Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones and Jacinda Barrett.Amazon.com
While it’s cast largely in the same musical mold as its winning predecessor, there’s a more palpable sense of romantic melancholy wafting through this soundtrack to the further misadventures of Rene Zelwegger’s lovably hapless, love-triangulated Bridget. Though still aimed at adult contemporary tastes, it’s also imbued with a healthier dose anglocentric cool via tracks like Jamelia’s torchy “Stop,” Will Young’s elegant take on Sade’s “Your Love is King,” teenaged Alfie contributor Joss Stone’s soulful “Super Duper Love” and the ubiquitous Kylie Minogue’s teasing “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” Mary J. Blige offers up a stark, melodramatic cover of Elton John’s “Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word” while Rufus Wainwright (with Dido) turns Anna McCarrigle’s (Wainwright’s mother) “I Eat Dinner” into an emotive centerpiece. There are the expected 70’s chestnuts (10cc’s “I’m Not in Love,” “Nobody Does It Better” by Carly Simon, Minnie Ripperton’s “Lovin You”) and the obligatory superstar remake (Sting and Annie Lennox muscling up his “We’ll Be Together”), but a few surprises as well, including the deliciously over-the-top, nouveau glam-rock left turn by The Darkness, “I Believe In A Thing Called Love.” –Jerry McCulley
Posted: Monday, November 23rd, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
Categories: Mary J. Blige.
Tags: Bridget, EDGE, jones, Reason.
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November 23rd, 2009 at 8:02 pm
The juxtapositions of the songs featured on this recording turn some good songs into dross. Taken as a whole, this soundtrack is mindnumbingly predictable and twee.
I generally like soundtracks – well, I have done in the past! – but this CD takes the form to a new low. In the olden days, a soundtrack for a film (if it was released at all! Heck! Why does a soundtrack have to be released at all? It was an ‘optional extra’ in the past and still is in some countries) included some rather interesting music – usually written by a young and up-and-coming composer/arranger or a more well-known and respected composer. Sometimes a song would be included (see ‘The Towering Inferno’ soundtrack) and sometimes musical classics were used (see ‘2001:A Space Odyssey’ or ‘Barry Lyndon’). Sometimes some very superb new music would be included (see ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ or ‘The Gadfly’ or any Derek Jarman/Peter Greenway film soundtrack).
Now what are we presented with?
A bunch of mere Pop/Rock songs from well known Pop/Rock singers (dead or alive) – cobbled together and ignominiously used as a marketing tool. The soundtrack has become mere propaganda for the film – rather than a wonderful aspect of the film that may be enjoyed separately!
Some good soundtracks are still being made and released – ‘Lord of the Rings’, ‘Amelie’ (just about any French [or Chinese] film you care to mention features a very good soundtrack) and ‘Solaris’ are fine examples. However, Bridget Jones’ Diary II: The Edge of Reason offers nothing more than a collection of ordinary to pleasant Pop/Rock songs assembled for marketing purposes. In fact, you could go through your Lp record/CD collection and make your own CD soundtrack for Bridget Jones III: The Edge of the cliff!
Recipe:
One Barry White number.
One or two current female pop balladeers (Dido, Joss Stone, Norah Jones, et cetera ad nauseam)
One hunky pop boy (Justin Timberlake, Ronan Keating – basically whoever is popular at the moment)
One ‘alternative moment’ (perhaps a song from The Smiths or New Order or something – but nothing too wild! N.I.N. or P. J. Harvey are right out! However, Nick Cave is almost a possibility….)
One or two ‘Classic Soul’ moments (perhaps something from Al Green, Sam Cooke, Bill Withers or Smokey Robinson)
Mix it all up and serve!
The beauty of this approach is that you don’t have to bring in some talented composer to actually assemble/compose a real soundtrack for you!
Rating: 2 / 5
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Despite the panning from critics, I’ve heard from friends that the new Bridget Jones Film is better (actually funnier) than the first. This CD Compilation Soundtrack contains a great mix of songs from and inspired by the Film. But the producers missed 2 great “Made for Bridget Jones” tracks – “Just Like That” from the CD Amber – “My Kind of World” and “Anyway (Men are From Mars)” featured on Amber’s “Naked” CD (available through her Boutique at ). “Just Like That” is a Pat Benatar-esque Song with Perfect Pop Lyrics: “Just Like That; Without a Past That Holds Us Back; Just Like That; It Looks Like Our Lives are Just Beginning; Just Like That; Dancing Like Romeo and Juliet; Just Like That”. This song would have been PERFECT played under the Closing Credits. And Anyway (Men Are From Mars) from “Naked” (www.Amber-MCC.com) is classic Bridget: “You’re So Cool; I am Emotional; You Need a Wife; I Need a Match for My Soul; You Stare at the Moon; I Reach for the Stars; I am from Venus; You are from Mars”. Oh well! The only solution is to buy both Bridget Jones:The Edge of Reason Soundtrack and AMBER – “My Kind of World”.
Rating: 5 / 5
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Good mix of music from different genres with some songs “covered” by newer artists. They do a good job of re-doing ths songs in their own way without losing the original integrity of the song. Fun to listen to in the car while dealing with rush hour!
Rating: 4 / 5
November 24th, 2009 at 1:44 am
I actually got this CD because I LOVED the song “I Eat Dinner (When the hunger’s gone)” when I heard it in the movie, and was so pleasantly surprised by the remainder of the soundtrack – I really enjoy Jamelia’s ‘Stop’, and Mary J. Blige’s cover of “Sorry seems to be the hardest word” is truly a portrait of painful sadness… I could go on about each song, but overall this soundtrack truly accomplishes what it set out to do – which is to tell the story of Bridget through song…. and it’s A LOT of fun to listen to along the way!
Rating: 5 / 5
November 24th, 2009 at 3:08 am
the music is excellent, really pumps me up on my drive to work.
Rating: 4 / 5