Tamara Drewe
2010
Starring: Gemma Arterton, Dominic Cooper, Bill Camp, Roger Allam and Tamsin Greig
Screenplay by: Moira Buffini based on the Graphic Novel by Posy Simmonds
Directed by Stephen Frears
Growing up I was a lot like Tamara Drewe. I lived in a small town, had a big nose and moved to the big city as soon as I could. That's where the similarities end. Tamara moved to London, became a successful columnist and had her nose fixed. I, on the other hand, became a wildly unsuccessful blogger and let my face grow into my nose.
Tamara Drewe is a slice of life comedy that is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Posy Simmonds. Set in the English countryside, the film opens at a writers retreat at the farmhouse of the famed thriller writer Nicholas Hardiment. Nick spends his days writing while his wife Beth runs the farm, cooks biscuits for the guest authors and types up his manuscripts. Nick, on the other hand, when he's not writing heads down to London for "research" which is banging sexy young girls. They have a few guests working on their manuscripts at the farmhouse, most notably an American named Glenn who is writing a book about Thomas Hardy. There is also a laborer named Andy. He's a local boy who had some run-ins with the police but is now on the straight and narrow. Two young girls named Jody and Casey, both fifteen and obsessed with gossip mags, who dream about getting out of their boring village.
Their life changes when Tamara Drewe comes to town to fix up and then sell the house she grew up in after her mom died. She's sexy and flirtatious and lacking the big honker she had when they last saw her. The men take notice and the women take notice of the men taking notice. Tamara hires an old boyfriend, Andy, to fix up the house. They dated when they were kids but he broke up with her because of the big nose. They are clearly attracted to each other but don't act on it. Tamara starts off an affair with a boy-band drummer and after that she hops into bed with Nick, only to be discovered and start us towards the conclusion of the film.
Tamara Drewe is entertaining, witty and well written. For the first two thirds of the film we episodically meander along with the characters until Jody, one of the young girls, takes over and starts to drive the story along. It almost becomes her film at that moment and while I liked what came before, Jody's adventures start to give us focus and also raises the stakes for everyone involved. This change also leads to some of the biggest laughs.
The character from America talks about how Thomas Hardy left each wife when he could find a younger one, and even fell madly in love with a woman 40 years his junior when he hit his sixties. And we can see Nick mirroring this in his infidelities. First, with a woman from London at the beginning of the film and later with Tamara. It would seem that given a few more years he would be making a play for young Jody. It is no wonder there is all this talk of Hardy as Posy Simmonds' graphic novel is a reworking of Hardy's Far from the Maddening Crowd.
I'm on the fence about this movie. There is a lot to like. The performances are, on the whole, excellent, and I did laugh on a number of occasions. There was nothing offensive with the direction and cinematography. But I just wasn't drawn into it and it was like I wanted to like it more than I did. I don't know if that even makes sense. I don't think it ever got a U.S. release and I think that's probably why. So I guess if you like whimsical comedies then you might want to Redbox it or check it out at Netflix or at your dying video store
Update: I just viewed Electra Luxx and that made me like Tamara Drewe more. I now give Tamara Drewe a B+.
Here is the trailer:
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