British small-town life goes digital
8/10
Author: rroberto18 from United States
1 October 2010

"Tamara Drewe" could be this year's "Sideways" sleeper with a British accent and wider demographic appeal. Key to the story arc is a pair of digitally-savvy teens with a crush on an oddly-charismatic indie band drummer. His eye is on a "suddenly attractive" blogger-journalist, wooed as well by a hunk-of-all-trades and a serially-unfaithful middle-aged novelist whose forgiving wife quietly orchestrates his success. The action is set on the couple's small organic animal farm which doubles as a writer's retreat for true characters at a loss to create any on a page.

The plot easily accommodates a love pentangle, social networking, domestic strife, celebrity culture and teen rebellion while staying true to its droll heart. Far from Hollywood's romantic/bromantic comedies, the humor here comes from dry wit and subtle class friction, instead of gross punch lines and pratfalls. What bathroom humor there is here actually requires a water-closet. The relatively unknown, multi-generational and perfect-pitch cast creates an unlikely ensemble without a hint of over-acting or scene-stealing.

If the film strove for significance or belly laughs, it would widely miss the mark on both scores. Beautifully shot, invisibly directed and edited, the only thing lacking might be a snappier title for non-British audiences. But true to its source material -- the Posy Simmonds-penned, Guardian-run comic strip turned graphic novel of the same name

-- "Tamara Drewe' totally fills the big screen without trying to be anything but its quirky self.

 A fine and thoughtful English comedy
9/10
Author: Ankheri from France
31 July 2010

London columnist Tamara Drewe (Gemma Aterton) reappears in a small and isolated village in the English countryside. She wants to sell her parents' house and interview a rock star. Soon enough, three males fall for the young and very attractive woman : romance novelist and cheating husband Nicholas Hardiment (Roger Allam), rock star Ben Sargeant (Dominic Cooper) and past boyfriend Andy Cobb (Luke Evans). While her house is being renovated by Andy, Tamara writes her own novel and enjoys Ben's company. Little does she know that teenager Jody Long (Jessica Barden) is scheming to come closer to the rock star.

In the course of a year, each character will find out that "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". Don't expect an in-depth / social demonstration on city dwellers vs. villagers. This is a brilliant and funny comedy where each character's selfish motives and agenda are gradually exposed. "Writers are just thieves and liars" quotes Nicholas blissfully, more careful to please his paying guests than to pay attention to his devoted wife Beth (Tamsin Greig).

The actors are doing a fine job and there is a good chemistry between them. There are no dull moments since there are three main story lines : Tamara and Ben, her neighbors Nicholas and Beth, the mischievous teenagers. These two girls however tend to steal the show as they are so gross, unashamed and reckless !

Not so far from the madding crowd.
8/10
Author: miss_lady_ice-853-608700 from United Kingdom
12 May 2012

The current IMDb rating is harsh, and inaccurate. Whilst the film might be messy in structure or focus, it always remains entertaining and even emotional.The graphic novel that this film is adapted from is a modernisation/ comic variation of Thomas Hardy's classic novel, Far From The Madding Crowd, and for fans of the novel, it's particularly entertaining to see how they took elements of the novel and transposed them to the modern day. In this film, the beautiful cosmetically-enhanced Tamara Drewe (Gemma Arterton) returns to her home town, where she was the ugly duckling. She becomes torn between farmer Andy (Luke Evans), whom she had a fling with in her teens, and rock star Ben (Dominic Cooper).

Andy is of course the equivalent of sturdy farmer Gabriel Oak and Ben is the equivalent of dashing Seargeant Troy. The updating works quite well,particularly in the case of Ben. Both Andy and Ben are believable caricatures- remember, this is a comic version of FFTMC. Wessex becomes a small rural town called Ewedown,where nothing happens and the kids are bored out of their mind.Readers of the novel will wonder where William Boldwood, the spare part in what is really a love triangle, is. This is where the film departs from the novel so those of you who haven't read the novel can breathe a sigh of relief and those who have read it can tentatively read on.

The spare part in this film's love triangle is Nicholas Hardiment (Roger Allam), a paunchy middle-aged crime novelist and serial cheat. He and his wife Beth (Tamsin Grieg) run a writer's retreat, which provides a good chance for satirical comedy, though it seems to belong in another film. Hardiment is based more on Thomas Hardy than William Boldwood, and so we get many allusions to Hardy, particularly from American academic Greg (Bill Camp), who pines for Hardiment's wife. Thought that that's a lot of characters? Well, you get even more: two interfering schoolgirls who meddle in Tamara's love life.

The pivotal Valentine in the novel is now an email sent to Andy, Ben and Hardiment. Taken all that in? Here's my opinion then. Despite the apparent clutter, this is actually a lightly funny film, and in some parts very moving. People have criticised Gemma Arterton for being too 2D but I think she convincingly portrays a vain beauty who enjoys her power over men. Tamara is an object, rather than a subject. The most interesting characters are Hardiment (played to slimy perfection by Roger Allam), Beth (a sympathetic portrayal by Tamsin Grieg) and Greg (a tragicomic performance from Bill Camp).

The trailer leads you to think that the film is all about the young people, whereas much of the enjoyment lies in the Hardiments' disintegrating marriage. The schoolgirls provide humour but they're not entirely necessary. All in all, this is a fine film, of particular interest to Hardy fans. It's a much better modernisation than Trishna, that's for sure.

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.

That's good movie making!
8/10
Author: JohnRayPeterson from Montreal, Canada
5 February 2011

If you read the IMDb full storyline, you might think twice about it and consider watching something else; in that case, you'd miss out on a good movie. I have yet to see a Stephen Frears directed movie that I have not thoroughly enjoyed regardless of the subject. Not one of the dozen I've seen or the fifty two he's directed are repeated subject; he's got fresh new subject matter each time and his grasp of the material as well as his approach to delivering it to us is so smooth you can't imagine any other version of what you've seen could be quite up to snuff.

He just gets it right each and every time. In an interview of Frears, he candidly admitted he is very lucky with the casts he's had the pleasure to work with and also lucky to get good scripts, he even claims he often has little to do with the end product of such or such a scene I disagree; I believe it's because he is professional enough to recognize good work and confident enough not to let ego mess it up, that the end result is what it is.

He enjoys a good working relation with actors so in this movie, the right blend of good actors and witty script pays off. You'll like all the characters portrayals because none are over done; all fit perfectly, contributing to the movies natural feel. My only disappointment was that it was over so quickly, or so it seemed.