Genres

Visitors Review

Adina 2013-05-17 23:44:52

Quite Interesting

I cannot quite explain Tamara Drewe, except that it is the story of a young woman who returns to the town of her youth in Dorset England and everything turns upside down.It's funny, charming, the cast is wonderful and does not feel like 2 hours.

Judith 2013-05-17 09:54:21

Quirky & holds your attention

This is a comedy, not in the American style; not meant to be deep or full of a message. It's simply entertaining and is about people with all their ego, lustfulness, pride, disappointments and misguided faith, plus the unexpected twists and turns of life. Watch it for fun and enjoy it!

jchenderson-1 2013-05-05 21:50:58

An embarrassment - avoid!

What an utter waste of talent. A truly dreadful amateur confused lamescript, with cardboard characters and a director on autopilot. What wasStephen Frears (he of the excellent "Dirty Pretty Things") thinking of?Catering to the undemanding "Notting Hill" audience and clearly aimedat the US market (scenes of pretty rural England plus token American),this juvenile Carry-On-meets-Greek-Tragedy mess was embarrassing to sitthrough. The best thing in it by far is Gemma Arterton's bottom, whichwas almost worth the price of admission itself. But not quite. And thenext best thing is the brilliant Jessica Barden, excellent as a boredmischievous teen. Both deserve much better. The wonderful Tamsin Greigis wasted, as is everyone else, floundering in a ludicrous script.Everyone overacts, the story's ludicrous, contrived and just plainsilly. Worst of all, this ridiculous nonsense can't make up it's mindwhether it's a comedy or a tragedy/drama, and the result is a puerilemess. Avoid like the plague (and go see "The Secret's in Their Eyes").

pj_at_IMDB 2013-05-05 09:55:26

Possibly the worst film I've seen this century

I've never before felt the need to put a review on IMDb but I feel Imust on this occasion. I've just shared a 25 mile journey, home fromthe cinema, with my wife and neither of us can remember such a badlyconstructed film for years. In fact the last time I saw a movie which Iso resolutely disliked was Rober Altman's, "Buffalo Bill and theIndians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson" in 1976.It struck me that Gemma Arterton was acting in a 21st centuryreconstruction of Tess of the D'Urbervilles with a script written in a13 year-olds "write in the style of Thomas Hardy" exercise.I saw Roger Allam a few weeks ago in Shakespeare's Henry IV at theGlobe Theatre playing the part of Falstaff and he was outstanding so Ihope he uses his pay cheque from this film to subsidise his nextShakespeare performance.For me the only two believable characters were played by Tamsin Greigand Luke Evans but in the main they were swimming against the tide of apatchy and disjointed narrative.Perhaps, having watched "The Secret in Their Eyes" and "The Girl Withthe Dragon Tattoo" earlier this week, I expect too much from thescript, the actors and the director but I doubt it. I really do thinkthis film is an insult to the British film industry. Shame. Must dobetter.

Ankheri 2013-04-16 00:37:39

A fine and thoughtful English comedy

London columnist Tamara Drewe (Gemma Aterton) reappears in a small andisolated village in the English countryside. She wants to sell herparents' house and interview a rock star. Soon enough, three males fallfor the young and very attractive woman : romance novelist and cheatinghusband Nicholas Hardiment (Roger Allam), rock star Ben Sargeant(Dominic Cooper) and past boyfriend Andy Cobb (Luke Evans). While herhouse is being renovated by Andy, Tamara writes her own novel andenjoys Ben's company. Little does she know that teenager Jody Long(Jessica Barden) is scheming to come closer to the rock star. In thecourse of a year, each character will find out that "The road to hellis 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'sselfish motives and agenda are gradually exposed. "Writers are justthieves and liars" quotes Nicholas blissfully, more careful to pleasehis 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 betweenthem. There are no dull moments since there are three main story lines: Tamara and Ben, her neighbors Nicholas and Beth, the mischievousteenagers. These two girls however tend to steal the show as they areso gross, unashamed and reckless !

RichHartford 2013-04-15 12:01:53

A Modern Day Ugly Duckling Tale

The movie,Tamara Drewe was adapted from the graphic novel of the samename by Posy Simmonds, which was in turn inspired by Thomas Hardy'snovel Far From the Madding Crowd.It stars Gemma Arterton on the titlerole as Tamara Drewe, together with Roger Allam,Bill Camp,DominicCooper,Luke Evans,Tamsin Greig and Jessica Barden.Stephen Frearsdirected this comedy drama about an ugly duckling who's followed by ahandful of suitors after maturing into a sexy swan.Tamara Drewe was born and raised in Ewedown, a quiet community on theoutskirts of London dominated by a writer's colony run by NicholasHardiment, a best-selling novelist who specializes in crime fiction,and his wife Beth. When Tamara left Ewedown, she was a plain andawkward teenager, but when she returns home for the first time inyears, the locals are surprised to discover that time (and a nose job)have turned her into an attractive and alluring woman, and she's gaineda share of money and fame thanks to a successful newspaper column.Tamara has returned to Ewedown after the death of her mother in orderto 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; BenSergeant ), the swaggering drummer with a local indie rock bandflirting with larger success; and Nicholas, who is chronicallyunfaithful to his wife and sees an opportunity with the neighborhoodgirl who was infatuated with him in her teens.This modern day ugly duckling tale wasn't absorbing nor compelling.Thenarrative adopts an increasingly episodic feel that one's interestbegins to wane as the film progresses.It only serves as a reliabledispenser of visual and erotic pleasures.Also,Gemma Arterton wasn'tinteresting enough in her portrayal that the viewer would not careabout Tamara Drewe at all.

2013-03-29 23:48:06

The title character's "snogging" and "shagging" fall prey to teenage highjinks

A quiet English village seems like a good spot for a writer's workshop run by a successful novelist and his wife who minds their farm and cooks up a storm. But beneath the surface of the rural quiet, things are bubbling. The novelist is as adulterous as the hero of his potboiler novels, as he fools around with the young woman writer Tamara Drewe who has returned to her native village. The cozy life of these villagers, however, is upset by Tamara taking up with a popular rock star and drummer. This rhythmic snogging and shagging get the attention of two teenage girl fans of the drummer, who go so far as to sneak into Tamara's cottage and email the drummer on her password-unprotected computer (once he has left for his London flat) in order to entice him back to the village and Tamara's bed. The girls' "messing" with Tamara and her life ends up turning over the whole applecart--with hilarious results!

mw-842-289670 2013-03-29 07:25:47

A Charmless Parody of Modern Britain

For me, the BBC Films logo is always a bit of a warning sign. Whilsttheir films are invariably challenging and technically well-made, theyare often either unrelenting grim, or in strangely poor taste.Tamara Drewe ticks both of those boxes (the second much more than thefirst). Overall, the film is little more than a group of shallowclichéd stereotypes, mooching around a rural village and sleeping witheach other. It lacks any real depth or insight and cannot be deemed tobe truly "worthy commentary". At the same time it is too dark and toosleazy to be palatably humorous either, and yet still does not work asblack humour.There are so many ways that the film could have been improved - frommaking some characters believable (the two teenage girls and many ofthe authors are not) to centring the film around one character or onerelationship, and making that the focus. Instead the film wandersaimlessly around, seemingly looking for titillation, and finding itremarkably often.To snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in so many ways, Tamara Drewehas really achieved something quite remarkable.And a note to non-UK viewers - this is a shallow (and bitter) parody ofthe UK, quite unlike the bulk of UK-produced films, in fact.

2013-03-25 05:06:36

A very silly movie...

This review is from: Tamara Drewe (DVD) My friend requested I get this movie as her Christmas present last year because she loves it. I watched it with her and have to agree. It is definitely silly, and if you like British comedy you will like this movie.

Zsombor Vasvari 2013-03-24 13:27:33

English comedy at its best!

Yesterday I saw the first movie of the year: Tamara Drewe. It wasadvertised as a funny English comedy, and as I like the type, I thoughwe give it a shot. It was a great-great choice! The movie is realEnglish comedy at its best! The plot -as usual in these kind of movies-is nothing special: In an end-of-the-world English village -whichfunctions as writer retreat for unpublished writers searching forinspiration- one day a super-hot next door girl shows up to sell hermother's house, that she inherited. Of course she falls in love withthe village, and there the complications begin: a macho rock starsearching for a girl; two young girls trying to get some adventure; awriter, who is getting some adventure; the local handsome trying to geta clear head; and a bunch of writers trying to put together anoticeable book.Those, who like these kind of films will LOVE it! 9/10

Hellmant 2013-03-17 08:20:07

The ugly duckling who got a nose job and all her dreams came true!

'TAMARA DREWE': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five) Stephen Frears (director of such well respected films as 'THE QUEEN','DANGEROUS LIAISONS', 'THE GRIFTERS' and one of my all time favoritefilms 'HIGH FIDELITY') directs this British fluff comedy film. It'swritten by Moira Buffini and based on a graphic novel (of the samename, which was a newspaper comic strip re-published as a graphicnovel) by Posy Simmonds. The comic strip was inspired by author ThomasHardy's nineteenth century novel 'Far from the Madding Crowd' (the filmfurther makes this significant by having a character write a book aboutHardy). The stunningly beautiful Gemma Arterton stars in the title role(you may remember Arterton from such blockbuster films as 'QUANTUM OFSOLACE', 'CLASH OF THE TITANS' and 'PRINCE OF PERSIA').The film revolves around the once 'unusual looking' Tamara who receiveda nose job and now returns to the village where she grew up, Ewedown (afictitious place said to be located in Dorset, England), to sell herdeceased mother's house. She's now of course the subject of every man'sdesire including an ex fling named Andy (Luke Evans), a famous writershe used to have a crush on named Nicholas Hardiment (Roger Allam) anda famous touring musician named Ben Sergeant (Dominic Cooper). Sheinitially is drawn to Ben but when one of Ben's young teen fans Jody(Jessica Barden) meddles in their affairs Nicholas sees an opportunityto sweep in and win the girl over. This is especially troublesomebecause Nicholas is married to a loyal and loving wife named Beth(Tamsin Greig) who he runs a writer's school with.The film is full of clichés and predictable slapstick mishaps but itdoes have a certain charm and is well crafted to a certain extent.Arterton shines in the film and of course looks beautiful but hercharacter is a little too unlikeable to be the lead heroine in thistype of film (for my taste). I do like the flawed hero but the filmalmost seems like it overlooks her misdoings and wants us to forgiveher for her selfishness without her learning from her mistakes possiblyjust because she was once despised because of her looks, or somethingof that nature. Another problem I had with the film is the dominantglaring message that if you're seen as unattractive and life has gotyou down all's you have to do is fix your appearance, to that of whatpeople prefer, and everything will work out for you. While one couldargue that this is true it's not a message that should be sosimplistically shoved in the viewers' faces. I also expected a lot morefrom Frears, the film pales in comparison to the quality of hisgreatest works. The film is amusing but just that.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pWEHzfCd7M

theresaman 2013-03-17 02:02:35

Fairly amusing, quite dark, do you need a nose job?

Tamara Drewe is a slightly amusing sex comedy, with a definite darkside, and somewhat formulaic situations and script.*** Plot Spoilers Follow *** What happens when the ugly village slapper (Tamara) departs and returnssome years later having re-invented herself as a beautiful, famous,rich and as a writer/journalist? (Nose plastic surgery is importanthere).The film is set in Dorset, and the locations unsurprisingly are lovely.This might be a good start for some dirty revenge story. However,Tamara's main interest is in sex, not revenge. Her sexual exploitsstart with a passing (famous) rock star, move on to the localwomanising author, and finally she gets the man who dumped her allthose years ago.There are two subplots.One involves the marital difficulties of the womanising author, wholies and shouts a lot to his wife. He comes to a sticky end at thehands of the most boring American ever portrayed on film.The second involves two village girls who are obsessed with the rockstar. This is a silly but amusing side attraction, as the main plot issomewhat sterile.I couldn't help wondering why this was done as a film, and not as a TVseries. Was this because it was lottery-funded? The film production hada slightly lazy quality to it, as if a number of the people who workedon it were going through the motions.Anyway,... what the moral of the story? Plastic surgery will get youthe back the man who dumped you 10 years previously! A bit sillyreally.PS: It would have only gotten 5/10, but the Dorset countryside makes ita 6. :)

valleyjohn 2013-02-27 13:44:06

Old fashioned delightful movie.

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

2013-02-26 19:20:01

Dumb, dumb, dumb................

I suppose in some circles a slight nod to Thomas Hardy will lift a truly bad movie to a higher level, but, for me, this wasn't nearly enough. I kept watching this ridiculous film thinking it was going to improve at some point, but instead it continued a precipitous decline into absurdity. If you have a tremendous ability to suspend disbelief and a moral compass which embodies the idea that repeated sex and adultery with random, inappropriate partners leads to happiness, then this is certainly the movie for you. Otherwise, it's a total waste of time!

freemantle_uk 2013-02-15 11:18:04

Decent Brit-com

British comedy is a strange creature. There are films that aresatirical, such as In the Loop, satirical, like Four Lions, tointelligence and dialogue driven, Withnail and I, and films that aimfor low key charm, Calendar Girls. Sometimes a film may try and made anumber of these features, like the work of Edgar Wright. Based on agraphic novel by Posy Simmonds, Tamara Drewe hits our screens, withGemma Arterton's profile continuing to increase.The village of Ewedown has become a writers retreat, a place forwriters to relax, work and chew the fat. Crime novelist NicholasHardiment (Roger Allam) and wife Beth (Tasmin Greig) run the place,with an American academic, Glen (Bill Camp (who sounds a lot likeWilliam Hurt)) struggling with his book on Thomas Hardy staying withthem. In the village two schoolgirls, Jody (Jessica Barden) and Casey(Charlotte Christie) cause havoc and mayhem simply because they arebored. But the village is turned on its head when the attractivejournalist Tamara Drewe (Arterton) returns home to sell her out house.She turns heads, including drummer Ben Sergeant (Dominic Cooper), herold frame Andy (Luke Evans) and Nicholas.Writer Moira Buffini and director Stephen Frears make a film with dramaand wit, and some moments of out right laughs. Frears was able toinject some style, like when characters speaking when there are on thephone. The humour of the film relies on number of areas, witty commentsand observation, physical violence and visual gags. The schoolgirlsoffer a lot of comedy because many people can empathies with theirsituation: rural England is not the most exciting place to grow up as ateenager. Their mischief making and thrills about a star in theirvillage compensates Barden lack of confidence as an actress. It isrefreshing to characters that do look their age. Frears and Buffini aimto a make a charming comedy, but with more swearing; so trying to havetheir cake and eat. The two should have tried to make gone one way orthe other. Strangely for a film called Tamara Drewe, there are longperiods where she is not on the screen or mentioned. There are plotsinvolving Nicholas wayward eyes and the budding relationship betweenGlen and Beth: walking the fine line of drama and comedy. Tamara Drewegoes from being pretty serious and hits you with a sudden joke and viceversa: working with effect. Tamara Drewe is very British beast, butGlen the American does offer an outsider view and will allow anon-British audience a point-of-view, with few British swears and slangwords being used. There are some issues affecting rural England, likerich city flock buying houses and making villages too expensive to livein and boredom for young people: but it is hardly a political piece.Whilst some of pacing is a little slow and the film ends upsidetracking at moments, there are strong performances from most of thecast. Atherton shows why she is a raising star, giving Tamara a quick,biting wit. Allam effectively plays a very slimy writer who takesadvantage of his wife and he seems to have a nack for playingdislikeable characters (his previous roles have been in V for Vendettaand Speed Racer). Cooper and Evans work well against each other as loverivals for Tamara, with Cooper really understands the part of apretentious indie musician. Greig too gives a good performance andgiven her background as a comic actress, she her character is for themost part serious, with moments of witty comments.Tamara Drewe is more a gently comedy with small jokes and drama and nota out right laugh fest as the promotion will want you to believe.

winles 2013-02-15 01:25:35

Tedious overblown rubbish!

I have just sat through this awful film. It consists of a very tediousand unbelievable plot,inhabited by shallow and facile characters.It isreally nothing more than a sequence of disconnected and fantasticcoincidences stretched together and called a script. It is also acriminal waste of many good actors,who must have cringed at being in amovie with such dire lines and trite situations. I am ashamed that itwas seen fit to film it by a British company. Movies such as this had(I hoped) disappeared with the swinging 60's. I could go on and onabout it,(but I won't) just don't waste your money on such a "puff ofair" type film. Let it die it's own natural death.

napierslogs 2013-02-05 08:23:50

A comedy of affairs

Ewedown is an idyllic, little English countryside village where writersretreat to seek inspiration, and peace and quiet. Or at least it wasidyllic until Tamara Drewe returned home.The stunningly beautiful Gemma Arterton plays Tamara Drewe. Herpresence immediately sparks the interest of the local men, and thebored, local teenage girls who are looking for excitement to spice uptheir mundane town life. She is so sexy that she has her choice ofaffairs, but as usual, it's always the asshole who gets the girl. Justas it looks like Tamara is going to settle down with the rock and rolldrummer Ben (Dominic Cooper) to interrupt the reserved lifestyle of thevillage, life gets complicated for everybody who wants something withTamara."Tamara Drewe" is a comedy of affairs, complete with foul language,quirky characters and the irreverent British humour. Arterton sparklesas Tamara, but it's less about the characters and more about who willbed who and what will the consequences be? It sometimes seems to forgetthe age of its audience when it goes for the comedy of teenage girlsgetting into mischief, but it's also exactly what you would expect foran odd comedy about a group of writers and one hot girl.

simona gianotti 2013-02-04 20:19:44

irreverent British comedy

"Tamara Drew" is the typical irreverent British comedy, where comedy isnot for its own sake, on the contrary the witty humour leaves space tosome reflection upon human relationships, and love is responsible ofall the twists and damages within the story. But what is interesting isnot the story itself, which is quite lacking any significance, beingthe plot in the service of the characters, as they are more complexthan they may seem. At the beginning they appear as prototypes of humanvices or virtues: the unfaithful husband, the good supporting andreconciling wife, the sex bomb who would make every man fall into herbed, the good-hearted intellectual who still has some moral values...and in a way they are. But as the story progresses it helps revealtheir complexity, to come to the conclusion that life is more simplethan people often pretend it to be. The movie offers amusing moments,but it gets in a way a black comedy , mainly in the end, revealing somecrudity, as if some kind of justice has to be rendered. The cast isexplosive, the actress playing Tamara is undoubtedly suitable for herrole, all the people living in the village are authentic and credible,showing a good chemistry between them, and the two girls, mainly Jodie,are really sparkling. On the whole, an entertaining product, full ofhumour to be explored.

markgorman 2013-01-30 02:54:21

Hmmmm

The Good Life meets The Vicar of Dibley. Minus the laughs.Steven Frears' career is, for me, a bit up and down. He's had hisgreats; The Queen and The Grifters for sure, but a lot of his best workhas been for TV and this is a BBC funded movie that feels more like aTV show. I have to say it is beautifully realised. The setting inEngland's green and pleasant Home Counties (or is it the West Country?)looks delightful and the lighting is excellent. But it doesn't do verymuch at all. It seems such a slight premise for a movie and really isabout manners; English middle class manners.Set amidst a writer's retreat the concept should tee up some goofy,oddball characters with the opportunity for considerable set piece fun,but for some reason Frears chooses not to go down that path,consequently the laughs are few and yet this is billed a comedy. As amorality tale (which it really aspires to being) it doesn't reallypreach any morals. Hardly anyone gets hurt (apart from the longsuffering wife of lotharian crime writer Nicholas Hardiment - playedrather well by Roger Allam) but even she gets a get out of jail freecard and our eponymous 'heroine' seems to be celebrated for shaggingpretty much every guy that crosses her path.Gemma Arterton looks alright, but she's not exactly Marlyn Monroe andshe acts OK (but little more than that). Apart from Roger Allam onlyTamsin Greig as his aforementioned rug of a wife can claim any actingcredits at all. The Greek Chorus of 15 year old troublemakers whostitch the movie together are not credible in the least and Drew'sfirst catch, the uber-stereotypical rock and roll bad lad, played byDominic Cooper has just steeped out of am dram to overact like abastard.This is a poor film folks. It's all packaging and no content. And thetruth is; it's kinda dull. Save your money.5/10

rroberto18 2013-01-29 19:19:19

British small-town life goes digital

"Tamara Drewe" could be this year's "Sideways" sleeper with a Britishaccent and wider demographic appeal. Key to the story arc is a pair ofdigitally-savvy teens with a crush on an oddly-charismatic indie banddrummer. His eye is on a "suddenly attractive" blogger-journalist,wooed as well by a hunk-of-all-trades and a serially-unfaithfulmiddle-aged novelist whose forgiving wife quietly orchestrates hissuccess. The action is set on the couple's small organic animal farmwhich doubles as a writer's retreat for true characters at a loss tocreate any on a page. The plot easily accommodates a love pentangle,social networking, domestic strife, celebrity culture and teenrebellion while staying true to its droll heart. Far from Hollywood'sromantic/bromantic comedies, the humor here comes from dry wit andsubtle class friction, instead of gross punch lines and pratfalls. Whatbathroom humor there is here actually requires a water-closet. Therelatively unknown, multi-generational and perfect-pitch cast createsan unlikely ensemble without a hint of over-acting or scene-stealing.If the film strove for significance or belly laughs, it would widelymiss the mark on both scores. Beautifully shot, invisibly directed andedited, the only thing lacking might be a snappier title fornon-British audiences. But true to its source material -- the PosySimmonds-penned, Guardian-run comic strip turned graphic novel of thesame name -- "Tamara Drewe' totally fills the big screen without tryingto be anything but its quirky self.