Martin Bradley Taken from a graphic novel that is loosely based on "Far from the Madding Crowd", "Tamara Drewe" is something of an unexpected treat from the great Stephen Frears. Gemma Arterton is Tamara, a journalist and former ugly duckling, who returns to the village of her youth, now something of a beauty, (she's had a nose job), causing considerable consternation among the locals, mostly the men, principal of whom is Roger Allam's crime writer who is two-timing his wife Tasmin Greig with any woman who moves. Then there's Tamara's old boyfriend Luke Evans, (think Gabriel Oak), and the rock drummer, (an excellent Dominic Cooper), she falls for (he's the Sergeant Troy figure). To make sure we get the Hardy analogy there's an American writer staying with Allam and in love with Greig and currently writing a book on the novelist. The plot, which also involves a couple of teenage girls with a crush on the Cooper character, gets more and more convoluted as the film progresses with the humour turning increasingly sour, but it's funny and clever and its failure was totally undeserved. Not the best of Frears but worth seeing.

The_Movie_Cat As the film itself would have it, then storytellers (or in this case advertising men) are "thieves and liars". It's a shame, because the trailers and promotional material ahead of this movie's release would have appeared to have harmed it greatly. While the exact budget for Tamara Drewe isn't readily available, you'd suspect that it didn't exactly make a fortune for the studio by only taking in around £7.6 million worldwide.Tamara Drewe isn't a great film, or a particularly unique one. Yet it also isn't, crucially, the film it's purported to be in the cinemas. While the people who DID pay to see it could rightfully have felt aggrieved that it wasn't a Curtisesque knockabout comedy full of "hilarious" middle class eccentrics, the greater number who didn't go to see it, possibly in the believe that it WAS a Richard Curtis-like movie, did miss out on something... pretty okay. Or "decent" as another character in the movie would have it.Gemma Arterton looks stunning in the film, and her sexuality was made much of in the trailer. But the central character is, in many ways, Tamsin Greig's broken wife Beth. It'd be equally unfair to call this film "dark", but it's more of a drama with some so-so humorous moments than the "laugh riot for the easily amused" that the promotion would attest. It's certainly no bleak Ken Loach exploration of the fractured human psyche, but picture if Loach himself had undergone this treatment... picture Kes, with the scenes where Billy talks about female and male budgies, or that bit where he shows his scrotum off as he climbs over the shower. Now picture those clips spliced together, with every single reaction shot in the picture taken out of context and placed in between. Now imagine a jaunty, catchy pop number - say, Lily Allen's "The Fear" - placed underneath. For the icing on the cake, picture an uptempo US voice-over telling us about "young Billy Casper and his kerazeeeeeeeee kestrel..." It places a whole different tone on events, doesn't it?No, Tamara Drewe ISN'T up there with Loach works. And no, it's not especially deep, meaningful or insightful. Hell, it's not even particularly worth seeing. But if you do happen to catch it, you might find yourself enjoying its inoffensive escapades and musing over the fact that it's not the film you thought it would be.

Thorsten-Krings This is an odd film which ultimately bored me. It was marketed as a comedy which it really isn't although it has its funny moments. Tamara Drewe is a drama about a woman who was un ugly duckling as a girl and now returns as a stunner to her home village. However, this is not your usual quirky British rom com but a film about a woman who has a certain tendency for self destructive behaviour and wants attention from men because her dad left her. That is occasionally painful to watch. Arterton does not really shine in her role as she mostly has a fairly minimalistic approach to acting and ficial expressions (or rather a lack of them) that suggest early Botox treatments. The supporting cast however is great and especially Allam gives a hammy but delightfully sleazy performance. As for the story I found it a very unsatisfactory mix of drama and comedy with the drama being too realistic for the comedy and the comedy too goofy for the serious drama issues. The only really funny moment in the film is literally the last minute when a song is played that suggests that the hapless groupie actually did get her wicked way with the drummer of an indie band. The underlying love story is so obvious that I won't even mention it.

valleyjohn You don't see many films like this any more. This film has a very old fashioned feel about it . Tamara Drew is a delightful movie about people , personalities and relationships and i really liked it.What more could you want in a woman. Tamara Drew is young rich and beautiful to boot ( and she's a Charlton Supporter ) well Gemma Arterton is! . The problem is she has all the men lusting after her and Tamara is not so great with her choices of fella's.This is a very well acted movie. Arteton ans Bill Camp stand out and It looks great to. It has the feel of a stage play but it does work well on the big screen too.Well worth a watch.