"Bridget Jones' Diary" didn't really leave the door open for a sequel, nor do I imagine many folks were demanding one, but three years later, the original cast is back for a second go-round in "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason." Like most sequels, it isn't as fresh or fun as the first, but it certainly has its moments, and is better I expected it to be.

This one begins roughly two months after the first. Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) and Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) have been happily dating, but Jones begins to feel she doesn't really fit in with his life & friends after continually embarrassing herself around him. Mark seems nonchalant about these episodes, but her friends goad her into suspecting he's having an affair. After several heated arguments and a few misunderstandings, her suspicions seem to be confirmed and the two split up. Meanwhile, Bridget's network teams her up with the lecherous Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant, who's once-again hilarious) for a TV travel piece about Taiwan. Still resentful of his treatment of her in the first film, she reluctantly agrees. Even though she still loves Mark, Daniel (who claims to be trying to change his womanizing ways) starts to use his charm to try and rekindle their relationship. For a decidedly calculated sequel, the screenplay does a decent job placing Bridget's character in the same dilemma as the first movie, and on a comedic level, offers more-of-the-same, though with predictably diminishing results. Bridget is still clumsy, insecure and extremely gifted at placing herself in humiliating situations, some of which are funny (like her attempt at skiing), some of which are not (the whole jail sequence in Taiwan, in which Bridget teaches the other inmates how to properly sing & perform Madonna's "Like A Virgin," is stupid and irrelevant). Mark & Daniel also engage in a another pathetic attempt at fighting that garners the biggest laughs in the movie. Again, Zellweger is funny & charming, and does a good job narrating the film. "The Edge of Reason" takes a bit longer to get interesting, and the laughs are fewer and more scattered, but for a sequel, you could do worse.

The movie is presented in its original 2.40:1 aspect ratio. There aren't any artifacts or scratches, but I was surprised at some of the graininess present in some scenes, particularly noticeable toward the beginning. There were also a few occasions when the colors didn't exactly look accurate. The movie sounds great, though, offered in 5.1 Dolby Digital. There's good balance and it's free of any distortion.

The best features on this disc are probably the deleted scenes, all of which are fairly entertaining, especially Bridget's fantasy sequence in which she imagines what her and Mark's kid would be like. Also amusing is an "interview" with Colin Firth, done by Zellweger as Bridget. There's a quiz called, "Who's Your Man?" which can be played along with the movie or separately. Of the featurettes, the best covers the amusing fight scene between Firth and Grant, who offer amusing interviews in which they rank on each other. The "Mark & Bridget Forever" featurette is kind of pointless, but the one featuring an impressive CGI panorama of London is pretty interesting. Also included is a cast & crew bio.

If you don't approach "The Edge of Reason" expecting it to equal the original, then you're likely to enjoy this contrived-but-entertaining sequel (which kind of leaves the door open for a third film). It isn't as well-paced or funny as "Bridget Jones' Diary," but it offers some amusing moments, as well as a few big laughs. Useless Trivia: The "Bridget Jones" character began life in a series of newspaper columns.