Hugh Grant – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY – Review by Susan Granger

February 24, 2025March 1, 2025 Susan Granger abi morgan, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Casper Knopf, colin firth, Dan Mazer, emma thompson, Helen Fielding, Hugh Grant, Michael Morris, peacock, renee zellweger

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is the first film in the British romantic comedy franchise to skip a US theatrical release and go straight to streaming on Peacock. That’s probably a wise choice because Bridget Jones’ fans are older now and it’s fun to watch at home. Still a grieving widow, idiosyncratic Bridget (Renee Zellweger) desperately misses her beloved late husband, Mark Darcy, four years after he was killed on a humanitarian mission in Sudan. That pervading sorrow extends to their 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter. Although Bridget’s former lover/boss – now best friend – ever-flirtatious Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) offers support, meaning that he’ll watch the kids so she can occasionally get out of her London home, her love life is nonexistent.

Reviews

HERETIC – Review by Susan Granger

November 4, 2024November 17, 2024 Susan Granger Bryan Woods, Chloe East, Heretic, Hugh Grant, Scott Beck, Sophie Thatcher

I’m not a great fan of the horror genre but I’m a steadfast admirer of actor Hugh Grant’s decision to demonstrate his versatility by playing villains (Paddington 2, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), rather than charmingly stumbling, bumbling romantic leads (Love Actually, Notting Hill, etc.). Heretic begins as two young missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – ardent, innocent Sister Paxton (Chloe East) and steadfast, stoic Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) – trudge through a Colorado ski town, trying – without success – to strike up conversations with passers-by about their faith.

Reviews

HERETIC – Review by T.J. Callahan

October 29, 2024November 3, 2024 T. J. Callahan Bryan Woods, Chloe East, Heretic, Hugh Grant, Scott Beck, Sophie Thatcher

Hugh Grant is a one man creep show in the guise of a religious zealot in Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ horror thriller, Heretic. Grant goes to the dark side in Heretic as a man who doubts the validity of religion and the church itself. He’s part theology teacher, part psychopath, and chews up the scenery with every monologue. Heretic is more cerebral than slasher. It’s psychological blasphemy. A sinister Sunday School lesson with only a few requisite jump scares and some blood. The film pulls you in with it’s believable performances, originality, and just enough mystery to keep you interested.

Reviews

THE GENTLEMEN – Review by Martha K Baker

January 22, 2020January 24, 2020 Martha K. Baker (Archived Contributor) 0 Comments gangsta, guy ritchie, Hugh Grant, Matthew McConaughey, michelle doxkery, the gentleman

Mickey Pearson is the lord of weed. He has marijuana farms under huts, literally underground, and in his farms, he nurtures Mary Jane. But he wants out. Plenty of people line up to buy the farm–in more ways than one. Despite the title, there’s not a gentleman in sight, not so’s you’d know — there are more zeroes than heroes.

Interviews

EYE ON MEDIA: Keeping Up With Hugh Grant — Profile by Martha Nochimson

August 8, 2018September 6, 2018 Martha P. Nochimson (Archived Contributor) 0 Comments about a boy, avery english scandal, bridget jones diary 2, eye on media, florence fosterjenkins, Hugh Grant, imdb, notting hill, paddington 2, sense and sensibility

On IMDb.com, a biographical note by Steve Shelokhonov, who has made his mark, such as it is, as the author of IMDb mini-biographies, describes Hugh Grant as an actor known for “playing characters projecting warmth and sincere happiness.” It’s not an important piece of scholarship, but it is widely read, due to its venue, and it is, unfortunately, typical of the kind of entertainment journalism that promotes reductive stereotypes of star reputations. It’s undated, but couldn’t have been written much after 2003, so it grows out of Grant’s early work. Even so, it is a distortion.

Movie of the Week Reviews

AWFJ Movie of the Week, August 8 – August 12: Florence Foster Jenkins

August 5, 2016June 8, 2020 Dorothy Woodend 0 Comments anne brodie, Florence Foster Jenkins, Hugh Grant, jennifer merin, leba hertz, meryl streep, Neil Minow, Nicholas Martin, Nina Arianda, rebecca ferguson, Sandra Kraisirideja, stephen frears, thelma adams

Opening Aug. 12, AWFJ’s Movie of the Week is Florence Foster Jenkins, Meryl Steep adds another character in her pantheon of infamous dames. This time it is an actual operatic grande dame in the eponymous form of Florence Foster Jenkins. Read on…