You thought last year's Versus matchup between "Alien: Romulus" and "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" was odd? Hold my beer and keg, for today, we've got "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy" with Renee Zellweger on Peacock against "The Unbreakable Boy" with Zachary Levi. Now I know what you're thinking. What could these two possibly have in common to justify this unusual matchup? Well, they're both about parents figuring out how to care for their children and keep their mental act together. A promising start, I'd say. So let's get into it.
Round 1: Presentation
It might seem like a close call at first after you see the trailers for both films and think they'll be about the same. "Bridget Jones" has the advantage of benefiting from the phrase "less is more". It films a real English neighborhood on the countryside, and you get some engaging and dynamic angles and shots. For example, Bridget (Zellweger) and her kids are out in wide open terrain releasing some balloons in the sky in a big shot of the landscape. There's Bridget's townhouse as well, which sees a white owl as a regular visitor in the background.
Whereas "Bridget Jones" benefits from its simplicity, "The Unbreakable Boy" does make some bold choices. An example is a scene where the titular kid imagines a red animated dragon in the sky instead of his red kite. I thought that connected the dots between people in the autistic spectrum and what they think up visually. I then have to take those points away, when some later scenes that clearly use green screen poorly ruin what good elements had come before. "The Unbreakable Boy" goes the opposite route and ends up ruining its potential.
Round 1 Winner: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Round 2: Audio
Both films would seem to be even on the audio front at first. That is until you get to "The Unbreakable Boy". Per the trailer, the titular character Austin (Jacob Laval) is autistic and suffers from easily breakable bones. Your ability to get into this film will depend on whether or not you like Austin as a character with his constant narration and talking throughout. As someone who has mild autism myself (asperger syndrome to be precise), I admire his positive spirit some of the time. But to be frank, Austin wore out his welcome on me fairly quickly.
His voice started grating on me the more he went on and on. By comparison, I hardly talk that much in public. Heck, I'll bet even Ben Shapiro, a well-known fast talker, would want Austin to take a break for awhile. In "Bridget Jones" conversely, the dialogue is fluent and pronounced perfectly. This is sort of expected given that the English are known for emphasizing such matters. Both films have licensed tunes as well as generic soft music in the somber and emotional scenes. Overall though, "Bridget Jones" handles its audio much better.
Round 2 Winner: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Round 3: Content
This is an easy round to declare a winner to. What we have on our hands is a case of a film that accomplishes what it sets out to do versus a film that goes from one baffling and insincere decision to another. As you've probably guessed, "Bridget Jones" is the former of the two. What's funny is that I've never seen a film from this series before. Yet I was able to pick up on various details okay. No real knowledge of the series aside, "Bridget Jones" is a pleasant rom-com that surprisingly avoids the typical trappings you expect from this genre.
No misunderstandings or painfully hidden lies as in "Kinda Pregnant". Just a story about a woman raising kids by herself while looking for another romantic partner to fill the void. On that front, "Bridget Jones" does its part in telling said story in an efficient manner. I'll admit a week after I first saw it, I had difficulty remembering it again. It does kill off a character or two who have been around since the first film, which won't sit well with fans. But Zellweger is likable and the other cast members do their part as well, namely Chiwetel Ejiofor.
As for "The Unbreakable Boy", at the risk of delving into semi-spoiler territory, this film makes the most head-scratching decision I've seen made in a family film since this site’s birth. This film injects an imaginary friend character into this narrative, but it's not Austin's. Rather his dad, played by Zachary Levi, has a consistent drinking buddy in his own imaginary friend. I'm not making this up. The film is more about his struggles with being a parent than about Austin himself and the challenges he overcomes. Yet he has an imaginary friend.
What a glaringly dumb decision it was to incorporate this story element. And sadly, dear reader, you won't receive any reason or explanation for this ever. This narrative is based on a novel and true story, written by the dad no less. That's not the only fumble this film makes. There's a religious element in the narrative at hand. But you're forgiven for not noticing since it adds nothing to the story. If anything, it makes the changes to the character arcs involved far less credible and earned. And let's face it, Levi doesn't sell this character well at all with his work.
To make a character like this father gel, you'd need an actor who can fully embody the dramatic elements as naturally as the comedic. And I don't get that balance out of Levi here. He feels out of place. In able to like this film, it's crucial that we should like the characters at its center. But I found an overabundance of influence from films such as "The Blind Side" or other sappy, insincere sentimental schlock. I couldn't stand these people at all. Meghann Fahy sells Austin's mother's frustration and empathy for her children, but that's it.
A confrontation between a random bully and Austin's brother Logan (Gavin Warren) ensues. After Austin and their mom talk to Logan about the incident, their solution is to basically give the bully what he wanted in the first place. I'm not a parent, unless you count my cat Oreo. But you sure won't see me pulling a stunt like that on my offspring anytime soon. For any noble intentions they had will only cause more confusion that doesn't need to be. I've had enough devil's advocate scenarios like that on my end to know that forgiving enemies isn't worth it.
That's the type of logic this film operates on time and time again. Autistic people are as varied as everyone else. We're not just stereotypes that films like this make us out to be. Put that aside, the film at its core is a typical cookie cutter inspirational drama that shoves its meanings down your throat until you puke. You can predict every plot point in the copy and paste formula script. No interesting direction to elevate the material whatsoever, except for the baffling choices I mentioned before. The longer I write about it, the more this film sucks.
Round 3 Winner: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
It's funny how I'm discussing the loser of the matchup here more than the winner. That's because for what it is, "Bridget Jones" at least provides what it promises to give consumers. It's a perfect film to catch on streaming since that provides the most satisfaction for your time and investment. "The Unbreakable Boy" doesn't even justify having its theatrical release, even after some confirmed delays as far back as 2022. Yet another pathetic example of why these family dramas are having a difficult time finding their target audience.
Final Verdict:
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy: 7/10
The Unbreakable Boy: 4/10
WINNER: BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY
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