RENEE ZELLWEGER
The Bridget Jones Franchise recently popped its third entry, Bridget Jones’ Baby (2016). To say it is better than the last one, Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason (2004), may be damning with faint praise, but it is really pretty good. Colin Firth and Patrick Dempsey are just fine as the possible father. But like the others in this series, it is Renee Zellweger’s show. 
Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001) became almost a Bible for a whole generation of young women, trying to balance work and romance. If the film, with Renee Zellweger as Bridget, isn’t quite up to the book- well, what movie is? Hugh Grant puts in an appearance as the young man we thought was too snooty and turns out only to be shy. Bridget battles smoking, weight, make-up, jerks, and a host of other problems in a very
amusing manner.  Ms. Zellweger was nominated for an Oscar but lost to Jennifer Connelly for A Beautiful Mind.
The internet was abuzz a couple of years ago about how Ms. Zelwegger had ruined herself forever with plastic surgery, but she still looks fine to me.  She’s not exactly pretty, and she doesn’t exactly have a great figure. Passing her on the street you might not look back. But she has already been nominated twice for the Oscar. 
She was first noticed as the good-hearted, stick-with-you-to-the-end girlfriend of Jerry Maguire (1996). And though Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding, Jr., got the most notice (Gooding won an Oscar), folks found themselves asking, “Who was that girl?”. And she got to say the memorable line “You had me at hello”.
Ms. Zellweger is outstanding as the dutiful daughter in Anna Quindlen’s One True Thing (1998), and holds her own with heavyweights William Hurt (unreasonable, academic Dad) and Meryl Streep (slowly dying Mom).
A very different film, and very enjoyable, is the little-known Nurse Betty (2000). Renee Zellweger plays the title character, a woman so besotted with a soap opera that it becomes real life to her. This may be Ms. Zellweger’s toughest role, and she convinces us of her sincerity when one metaphoric wink at the camera would bring the whole thing crashing down. At once funny and moving, Nurse Betty is worth a look.
So, who would you pick to play red-hot-mama Roxie Hart in the red-hot musical, Chicago (2002)? Well, Renee Zellweger wouldn’t have made my top ten, but what do I know? She is a wonderful Roxie, and she can sing and dance up a storm. This film won the Oscar for best movie (Ms. Zellweger lost to Nicole Kidman for The Hours), and Queen Latifah, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere make if just loads of fun. It marked a return to the more traditional Hollywood musical, without all the lightning cuts and jumpiness of Moulin Rouge.
All of the films in this article, except the latest one, are available on DVD and for streaming. All are for grown-ups.