hyped garbage

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Being only able to give Tamara Drewe just two cheers makes me feel oddly churlish. It has a great cast and the ensemble does well and the setting is great (though a little worse weather, even a few duller days, would have made the rural setting rather more truthful - friends we really don't get that much sunshine in Old Blighty, not even in Hardy's Dorset). So why my reservations?Well, I think it has to do with the fact that the film is based 'on a graphic novel' that was, I think, in turn based on a newspaper strip cartoon. And there's the rub: you can get away with a great deal more in a cartoon than you can in straight film (which, after all is what Tamara Drewe is). In the graphic novel I'm sure the story made perfect sense in that it doesn't really have to make a great deal of sense. But on film? Hmm.The set-up is promising enough, but as the film goes on it doesn't really hang together all that well. You can't have it both ways: either the characters, especially Tamare Drewe herself, behave naturalisticaly or they don't. But they can't do both. I can accept Tamara falling for the crass drummer, but wholly inexplicable is why she later goes on to bed the narcissistic middle-age philandering crime novelist. And that man's wife might be gullible, but surely to goodness outside of a graphic novel no one is that gullible. Another character who is more at home in the graphic novel is the free- loving barmaid at the local pub. And exactly what role she plays in the whole set-up is none to clear.Having said that, Tamara Drewe is a pleasant way to spend 90 minutes, but it might have been even more pleasant had the producers decided to make of it a different animal entirely. Merely providing a film version of the graphic novel doesn't really cut it. Shame.

Throughly enjoyed this film. The characters married beautifully to such a deliciously scribed plot, and were oh so believable... even the cringe factor worked - when gorgeous Tamara stoops well short (way shorter than her short shorts-geez if only i could pull that look off...) and sleeps with the guy who reminds me of Christopher Hitchens (... nice brain - ah, Hitchens, that is, but shame about the rest...)... and the schoolgirls - oh..the two teenage girls totally carried this movie they were AWESOME !! Anybody who did not enjoy this movie hasn't been around. The various characters - the lecherous writer, the 'put upon' housewife, the rock star and the hotel licensee were fantastically observed characters. I loved it!

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

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.