Tamara Drewe

Review by Anthony Morris

Based on a cartoon series that ran in UK newspaper The Guardian a few years ago (which has been collected in a book that's well worth checking out), Tamara Drewe (the comic) was itself based on Thomas Hardy's novel Far From the Madding Crowd.

You don't have to have read either to enjoy Stephen Frear's film version, but it does go some way towards explaining the somewhat old-fashioned (for a film) focus on character-based plot twists and turns here. 

Set in a writers colony on a farm near a small town in the english countryside, things start off fairly settled :

Best-selling author Nicolas Hardiment (Roger Allam) and his wife Beth (Tasmin Grieg) run the colony, he sneaks off and has affairs, she suffers (mostly) in silence while working with handyman Andy (Luke Evans), US writer Greg (Bill Camp) tries to get his book on Thomas Hardy written and a pair of local teens (Jessica Barden & Charlotte Christie) try to stave off boredom. 

Enter Tamara Drewe (Gemma Arterton), former local lass who's had a nose job and in now sweeping all the boys off their feet. 

She's returned to do up and sell her family home, but her return sends ripples through the placid community - ripples not everyone will survive... 

Tamara Drewe is a relatively gentle comedy of manners, with the occasional biting line mixed in, and while it's entertaining enough it's reliance on plot makes it a bit difficult to see why this is a movie and not a three-part BBC miniseries. 

It ends up occupying an odd middle ground where the plot keeps things interesting but there's never enough time to really get to care for the large cast. 

Fortunately the acting is universally impressive (though Arterton doesn't stand out as much as you'd expect), making this a pleasant enough way to pass the time...

But not much more than that.

2 out of 5

Tamara Drewe
Australian release: 3rd February, 2011
Official Site: Tamara Drewe
Cast: Gemma Arterton, Dominic Cooper, Luke Evans, Tamsin Green
Director: Stephen Frears