Product Description Judi Dench stars as a lonely middle-aged divorcee who suddenly decides to stop doing what's expected of her and start Behaving Badly. When her husband of 20 years falls in love with a younger woman, Bridget quietly moves on. For five years she accepts her fate, filling her days with part-time work, church-going, and evening classes until a chance encounter makes her face the emotional desert her life has become. She decides to stop being so "perfectly splendid" about it all and to start breaking rules and taking risks--happily impervious to the cries of dismay from those around her. Starring Judi Dench (As Time Goes By, A Fine Romance) in a role that won her a BAFTA award nomination, with costars Ronald Pickup (The Mission), Frances Barber (Prick Up Your Ears), and Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck, Lady Chatterly). .com Based on the book by Catherine Heath. the 1989 four-part British miniseries Behaving Badly is not to be confused with the Britcom, Men Behaving Badly. Judi Dench, as ever, commands the screen in her BAFTA-nominated performance as middle-aged Bridget Mayor, who, like Jill Clayburgh's character in An Unmarried Woman, is initially shattered, but gets a new lease on life after her husband of two decades (Ronald Pickup, Fortunes of War) announces that he intends to marry his mistress younger Rebecca (Frances Barber). After a somewhat dreary first hour, dutiful and obedient Bridget blossoms and shines as she declares that "with only myself to think about, and not much to lose, I've stopped caring about other people's good opinions." Declaring her conformist days are over, she shocks family and friends, first by moving back in with her ex and his new wife, and then in the flat her daughter, Trudy, shares with a close-knit group of young professionals. She further scandalizes one and all by falling in love with one of them, and considers accompanying him to America. "My mother has stopped being splendid," Trudy frets. Less compelling is Trudy's own romantic pursuit of a black pastor. Behaving Badly deftly mixes melodrama and comedy. Gwen Watfordias costars as Bridget's former mother-in-law and champion, who torments Rebecca and makes Marie on Everybody Loves Raymond look like June Cleaver. In an early performance, Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck) steals her scenes as a nerves-frayed, stressed-out schoolteacher. Behaving Badly anticipates the current so-called "chick lit" movement with this empowering personal odyssey that ends on an optimistically exhilarating high, as Bridget heals all family wounds, and "risks everything" to embark on her "grand adventure." --Donald Liebenson
J**Y
Great cast, very uneven story and some performances
Judi Dench is always great and the casting is excellent with Frances Barber, Ronald Pickup, Douglas Hodge and more. there is even a very young Joely Richardson, annoying though her character is. But some of the performance are uneven and the story veers from almost slapstick to serious with little warning and some poor attempts at comic timing. It is not that dated (Late 80s) because the message is a bit timeless, divorce and what comes next. It just takes a while to get to the next-5 years plus the duration of the story, so it is a bit farfetched and goes around in circles until we finally get to the end. Okay if you love British drama and classic actors.
K**E
Judi Dench - of course it's great. Nicely done sitcom (two short seasons) about a ...
Judi Dench - of course it's great. Nicely done sitcom (two short seasons) about a woman named Bridget (played by Dench), whose husband leaves her after 20 years and marries a younger woman. Five years after the divorce Bridget has a bit of a midlife crisis and realizes that she can and should please herself. She takes up with a man who is not only much younger than herself but openly bisexual. The last episode ends with the two of them leaving England for California. Rather groundbreaking subject matters given that it was made in 1988. Even in 2016, American TV doesn't handle any of the issues dealt with in this sitcom with half the grace, wit or honesty.
K**R
An 80s story about middle age and divorce in the UK
This show is from the 80s and really is dated BUT the qualifier for me is Judi Dench. Her acting carries this show (the other actors are very good but too but limited by an 80s script) and you really want to see where this woman, Judi's character, ends up. It is an easy watch and an interesting end. I'm in my early sixties and this is probably more for an older age group 1) we can remember the 80s as adults LOL! and 2) this is a story about a middle-aged woman divorced by her husband so that he can have a much younger wife. A bit of a cliche nowadays but still got my attention as to how she was going to deal with her life after that.
L**D
Worth Watching, If You Have Patience
Reading the description, I believed this would be a comedy. There are some moments, but it really is a drama, and very unique. As others have said, great acting. I did watch all of it, because I wanted to see what happened to Judi Dench's character. A slowly told melodrama with interesting characters and story line.
S**H
i gave it 4 stars just because i love judi
very strange series. i gave it 4 stars just because i love judi dench
V**L
Not really worth it
There are no closed captions. At this price there should be.only 4 segmentsStory is slow, disjointed and generally disappointing
M**E
Great performances -- a nice example of the unique stories ...
Great performances -- a nice example of the unique stories being told in late 80s British television-Joely Richardson's character is a real treat !
C**`
Great comedy
Can’t go bad with Dame Judi Dench. Good to see her in a comedy when she was younger. Wish it had closed caption.
D**Y
One Star
cant play as dvd is region 1
J**K
Good movie.
Fine.
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