It's the same old "Bridget Jones"

Watch out! Bridget Jones is back, and she's on a mission: to maintain a functional relationship with an adult long enough to finally get married.

"Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" picks up where the first movie left off. Bridget (Renee Zellweger) is currently dating Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), a human-rights lawyer (as she is so fond of telling everyone) who seems oddly patient with Bridget's embarrassing follies and almost crippling insecurity. But there wouldn't be a movie if everything went well in her life, so Bridget struggles with her relationship to find out if Mark really is the one for her.

Truly dedicated fans will most likely be delighted with this movie; its tone is just as light and airy as the first, and the one-liners come fast and frequently. Unfortunately, however, for the rest of us, the writers simply recycled the plot from the original "Bridget Jones's Diary." Yet again, Bridget fights off the advances of her smarmy co-worker Daniel Cleaver (a hilarious Hugh Grant, who seems to have a penchant for playing sycophantic characters) and grapples with her self-image.

Though this may seem like a recipe for the usual romantic comedy, "The Edge of Reason" is anything but. The protagonist is not the usual painfully skinny and perfect girl. Rather, she's curvy, a bit awkward and goofy. Also, instead of changing who she is for the man of her dreams, she continues to be her normal, imperfect self, and Mark loves her for it.

"The Edge of Reason" seriously overreaches (or overestimates how seriously viewers will take it) by having Bridget wind up in a Thai prison after being accused of smuggling cocaine back into London. But don't worry, she'll manage somehow. In fact, the thing that seems to worry Bridget most about landing in a jail cell is that her cellmates don't know the correct lyrics to Madonna's song "Like a Virgin."

There are some poignant moments in the film that might strike a chord with audiences of younger women. In one scene, after she and Mark have had a huge fight, Bridget sits alone in her apartment. The camera slowly zooms out to reveal Bridget's whole block, then her entire neighborhood and finally all of London. In every single house is a couple having some sort of fun, something Bridget is sure she's missing out on. This scene perfectly captures the feeling of loneliness Bridget and hundreds of others like her might feel after having a fight or breaking up with a significant other.

"Bridget Jones's Diary: The Edge of Reason" doesn't disappoint, but it also doesn't go beyond any expectations. The story sticks very closely to the plot of the first movie, so much so that the end is immediately predictable. The film is a lot like Bridget herself: a little quirky, a little ridiculous and a little shallow.

"Bridget Jones Diary: The Edge of Reason" (108 minutes) is rated R for language and some sexual content.