A Modern Day Ugly Duckling Tale
8/10
Author: Intern2014 from United States
22 December 2011

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The movie,Tamara Drewe was adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Posy Simmonds, which was in turn inspired by Thomas Hardy's novel Far From the Madding Crowd.It stars Gemma Arterton on the title role as Tamara Drewe, together with Roger Allam,Bill Camp,Dominic Cooper,Luke Evans,Tamsin Greig and Jessica Barden.Stephen Frears directed this comedy drama about an ugly duckling who's followed by a handful of suitors after maturing into a sexy swan.

Tamara Drewe was born and raised in Ewedown, a quiet community on the outskirts of London dominated by a writer's colony run by Nicholas Hardiment, a best-selling novelist who specializes in crime fiction, and his wife Beth. When Tamara left Ewedown, she was a plain and awkward teenager, but when she returns home for the first time in years, the locals are surprised to discover that time (and a nose job) have turned her into an attractive and alluring woman, and she's gained a share of money and fame thanks to a successful newspaper column.

Tamara has returned to Ewedown after the death of her mother in order to refurbish the family home and put it on the market. Before long, Tamara finds herself pursued by three men from her past -- Andy Cobb, her former boyfriend who has been hired to help fix up the house; Ben Sergeant ), the swaggering drummer with a local indie rock band flirting with larger success; and Nicholas, who is chronically unfaithful to his wife and sees an opportunity with the neighborhood girl who was infatuated with him in her teens.

This modern day ugly duckling tale wasn't absorbing nor compelling.The narrative adopts an increasingly episodic feel that one's interest begins to wane as the film progresses.It only serves as a reliable dispenser of visual and erotic pleasures.Also,Gemma Arterton wasn't interesting enough in her portrayal that the viewer would not care about Tamara Drewe at all.