Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

macblackslair I like some of the cast of 'Tamara Drewe' (Gemma Arterton, Luke Evans, Dominic Cooper) so I watched it.The movie started to annoy me when Tamara hit the screen. Nose job? Hot pants? Only interested in getting laid? There was nothing to like about that girl and her character could never reach or even convince me. Instead, I as an author felt embarrassed by this portrayal of a young journalist who returns to her English home in the fictional village Ewedown. I met even more annoying and repellent characters there, for example womanizer Nicholas Hardiment (played by Roger Allam).The performances where fine (partly) but the script kept annoying me. Tamara is someone I would try to avoid. The same applies to Nicholas. Landscape and settings were just fine and enjoyable but still this comedy failed to entertain me. It was far too silly. There are some British films I appreciate. Unfortunately, 'Tamara Drew' is not one of them.

paul2001sw-1 Cartoonist Posy Simmons has been chronicling the secret fears and loathings of the middle classes for over 30 years. But what makes her cartoons funny is the way a single picture, an exaggerated drawing of an eye or an uncomfortable smirk, can speak a thousand words. Make a film of a cartoon - and make fully explicit the implied contents of Posy's seductive images - and the danger is that what you get is too shallow to work as a serious film, without the delights of Posy's drawings (like a moving version of a dreadful photo-comic). So it is with Stephen Frears' version of 'Tamara Drewe', which occurs in a picture-perfect version of the English countryside, has a soundtrack that explicitly declares the film to be a caper, and a cast of characters, many beautiful, all one-dimensional, and none of whom you care for. Roger Allam, playing a role not wholly dissimilar role to his part in 'The Thick of It', is good fun, but it feels overall more like a sketched outline than something fully worked out: more storyboard than cartoon.

gradyharp TAMARA DREWE already had a following from her appearance in the best selling graphic novel by the same name by Posy Simmonds, an so it was probably not too difficult for the talented Stephen Frears to direct a pitch perfect cast to bring the delightful story to the screen. Filled to the brim with excellent actors this strange little story has many levels of meaning, but the main story is very well served.Tamara Drewe (Gemma Arterton) was historically a face to forget in the town of Ewedon, but she leaves for the city and plastic surgery and returns with a new nose and facelift that makes her as attractive as any lass in the town. She plays on the talents of married highly successful crime novelist Nicholas (Roger Allam) to polish her writing skills - the cost is an affair that leaves Nicholas ready to divorce his perfect wife (Tamsin Grieg). She also attracts the interest of her childhood solid friend Andy (Luke Evans) and the rather superficial and silly rock star Ben (Dominic Cooper) and eventually, with the running of interference by two loathsome little girls (Charlotte Christie and Jessica Barden), and it all turns out with many surprises! It is a dissection of relationships a la Thomas Hardy and Frears know how to make it all work very well.It is always a pleasure to be in the company of fine British actors in a lovely English countryside setting and this is no exception. Everyone in the cast is excellent - and it continues to be a pleasure to watch the very talented Dominic Cooper grow in the challenging roles he assumes. There are many reasons to enjoy this film, and among them is the sheer craftsmanship of the British cinema. Grady Harp

Tweekums I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down to watch this; I'd read that it was a comic updating of Thomas Hardy's 'Far From the Madding Crowd' and was curious to see how it would be done… even though my knowledge of the original is limited to a television adaptation. In a Dorset village things are about to change; Tamara Drewe is coming home and this once ugly duckling has had a nose job and become a beautiful swan who quickly catches the eyes of local men. These include former boyfriend Andy and married author Nicholas Hardiment, although the man to catch her is visiting rock star Ben Sergeant. The couple are soon engaged to be married but things go wrong when Jody, a jealous school, girl breaks into Tamara's house and sends out an email from Tamara's account inviting Ben, Andy and Nicolas to come round to her house and have sex! As her engagement collapses she falls into the arms of the older man Nicolas; this relationship doesn't last long though as Jody's friend Casey snaps the two of them together and sends it to his wife. As the end approaches the key question is; who will Tamara end up with? She isn't the only person who will get a new man though.I enjoyed this far more than I expected; at first I thought the set up looked like an episode of 'Midsomer Murders' without the murder… but perhaps that isn't a bad thing! Gemma Arteron was a delight as Tamara; I can understand why the men of the village fell for her; especially after seeing her in hot-pants! Other notable performances came from Roger Allam who played Nicolas Hardiment, Tamsin Greig who played his wife Beth and Jessica Barden who played school girl Jody. The story was fun with quite a few laughs and a good set of characters. Some might complain that it is more televisual rather than cinematic but I didn't see that as a problem; I thought the look gave it a pleasantly familiar feel. The story contains nothing too offensive although some may be offended by the swearing and the small amount of fairly innocent nudity.