Reviewed by Kate Rodger
Tamara Drewe is based on a weekly comic strip in a British newspaper, and set in the English countryside.
It’s quite the ensemble piece with plenty of familiar faces, along with a few fresh ones, and all under the direction of The Queen director Stephen Frears.
Bond girl Gemma Arterton stars as the titular Tamara Drewe, who returns to her village after a nose-job, and with a career as city newspaper reporter.
She hardly has fond memories of her home county, and is set on selling the family house, and moving back to the city. Her arrival causes all sorts of mayhem among the menfolk, and Tamara Drewe finds herself torn between a multitude of lovers, including a rock star, an egomaniacal author, and the hometown hottie.
This film is best described as a black comedy, laced with bovine humour and some questionable use of men's eyeliner. It does have the feel of Sunday Masterpiece Theatre to it in parts, and is quite the pastoral romp, which I suspect will find an audience here. Fans of Thomas Hardy may also find much to like here.
The storylines are many stranded, and all connected in some way, as most small towns stories can be. While it might be obvious to us all who the best man for Tamara Drewe might be, Tamara can’t seem to see the wood for trees in her forest of men, and chops quite a few down before coming to her senses.
There are also a few bad guys here, for many different reasons, and to say they get what they’ve got coming would just give too much away. Lets just say, you won’t expect what’s coming for some of these characters.
This a slightly unusual story, and the light and the dark of it may jar for some, but I must confess a guilty pleasure in the watching of Tamara Drewe, and more than a few decent belly laughs.
Three and a half stars.
Tamara Drewe
:: Director: Stephen Frears
:: Starring: NGemma Arterton, Dominic Cooper, Roger Allam, Luke Evans, Bill Camp, Tamsin Greig
:: Running Time: 111 mins
:: Rating: M - Contains Violence, Offensive Language & Sex Scenes
:: Release Date: February 24, 2011
:: Trailer: Watch here
