The trailer for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is misleading, if not entirely, at least partially.

Chronologically the fourth, yet the third to be published in the series of novels by author Helen Fielding, (the third novel, Bridget Jones` Baby, was made into a film in 2016), it is not that the trailer doesn`t accurately represent what is going on with Bridget`s life, but that Mad About the Boy (both the book and the film) has the plot and the look of a run-of-the-mill, made-for-television movie.

The plot, given out in the trailer in its entirety, shows us that her husband (Mark Darcy, played by Colin Firth) is dead, and that life with her two children is messy (but then again, her single days were just as messy). Bridget, however, soon finds a young boy-toy (Leo Woodall) and a much more fitting partner of her own age (Chiwetel Ejiofor), as she comes to terms with new life decisions she has to make for herself.

There is no denying that the premise carries the feel of seen-it-all-before romcoms but, after watching the film itself, one sees that the screenwriters and the director made sure that the film stays true to the tone and emotion of the series.

A good chunk of Mad About the Boy`s meagre success comes from the screenplay. That pat on the back goes to Fielding herself, who co-wrote all films, and fellow screenwriters Dan Mazer and Abi Morgan. Some applause is also deserved by Michael Morris, a television director whose film debut, To Leslie, had won Andrea Riseborough an Oscar nomination. The cast, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Sarah Solemani, Sally Phillips, Shirley Henderson, James Callis, Emma Thompson and Colin Firth, slide into their characters without a hiccup. Some characters, such as Daniel Cleaver, Hugh Grant`s character who is a womanising devil, mature quite nicely -and in his particular case, unexpectedly.

Bridget, played with somewhat less conviction (and nearly closed eyes) by Renée Zellweger, is still a conundrum, however. She is older, sadder, not at all wiser, but just as self-obsessed and vapid. Despite the four-year gap between Darcy`s death and the start of the film, one just cannot empathise with Bridget`s aimless approach to life especially when she has two somewhat well-mannered children (played by Mila Jankovic and Casper Knopf, the daughter is a bit wonky, and the son doesn`t really talk that much).

One simply does not believe that Bridget finds it hard to move on, given her actions. Oftentimes she comes across as a lazy, 50-something without a life plan for a good quarter of the runtime.

That no-plan attitude changes when she is motivated by friends and family to re-join as a producer for a morning show and, without her consent, is signed up for Tinder. A few scenes later, she decides to indulge in a romantic relationship with a strapping young man a park ranger named Roxster (Woodall) who is, apparently, into older women.

Their love story is fickle and one can see the trajectory it will eventually follow. That`s not the surprise though.

The surprise is the care the makers and the writers take with the shoddy, predictable material.

Mad About the Boy occupies the last spot in the Bridget Jones` line-up, no matter how one looks at it (ie its place in the series and the quality), but it is better than most other romance films we get these days. In this case and the general case of films made for streaming services that is reason enough to see the film, even if one will forget all about it the next day.

Released theatrically worldwide by Universal and streaming on their digital service Peacock, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is rated R for the usual adult stuff Don`t watch it with the kiddies