I mainly saw this because of the cast, which are undeniably talented, and Stepehen Frears with The Queen proved himself a worthy director. While Tamara Drewe is far from perfect, I thought it was decent.
It does have its flaws, the pace is quite slow sometimes especially in the transition from Winter to Spring and I wasn't entirely convinced by Jodie's infatuation for Ben. Some of the characters are stereotypes too, particularly Beth, who is written as a long-suffering house-wife. While Tamsin Grieg does portray her very well with such strong vulnerability, Beth does unfortunately come across as dull, and you don't always feel as much sympathy for her as much as you ought. My main problem though was that while the titular character Tamara Drewe is likable with her flaws and the performance is spot-on, I actually found most of the support characters better written and fleshed out, Nicholas especially and by the end he is the character you start hating.
However, despite these problems, the film does look beautiful, with stunning scenery captured lovingly by quite lovely photography and rich warm colours. The music also sparkles, Alexandre Desplat's background scoring is very effective and complimented nicely by some inspired classical/pop music choices. The story has an interesting structure to it with references to Thomas Hardy whose Far From the Madding Crowd the story resembles strongly. The script is often funny and witty and pokes fun at English literature in a way that doesn't offend, and while it is quintessentially British with Glen it offers an outsider view as well. Stephen Frears directs with style and finesse, but for me the acting was what drove the movie. Gemma Arterton as well as looking beautiful gives a spot-on performance in the lead, and while Tamsin Grieg, Luke Evans, Dominic Cooper and especially Jessica Barden give rock-solid supporting turns, the best of the supporting cast was Roger Allam who was wonderful and very slimy as Nicholas.
In conclusion, a decent film that is lifted by its cast especially. 7/10 Bethany Cox
It does have its flaws, the pace is quite slow sometimes especially in the transition from Winter to Spring and I wasn't entirely convinced by Jodie's infatuation for Ben. Some of the characters are stereotypes too, particularly Beth, who is written as a long-suffering house-wife. While Tamsin Grieg does portray her very well with such strong vulnerability, Beth does unfortunately come across as dull, and you don't always feel as much sympathy for her as much as you ought. My main problem though was that while the titular character Tamara Drewe is likable with her flaws and the performance is spot-on, I actually found most of the support characters better written and fleshed out, Nicholas especially and by the end he is the character you start hating.
However, despite these problems, the film does look beautiful, with stunning scenery captured lovingly by quite lovely photography and rich warm colours. The music also sparkles, Alexandre Desplat's background scoring is very effective and complimented nicely by some inspired classical/pop music choices. The story has an interesting structure to it with references to Thomas Hardy whose Far From the Madding Crowd the story resembles strongly. The script is often funny and witty and pokes fun at English literature in a way that doesn't offend, and while it is quintessentially British with Glen it offers an outsider view as well. Stephen Frears directs with style and finesse, but for me the acting was what drove the movie. Gemma Arterton as well as looking beautiful gives a spot-on performance in the lead, and while Tamsin Grieg, Luke Evans, Dominic Cooper and especially Jessica Barden give rock-solid supporting turns, the best of the supporting cast was Roger Allam who was wonderful and very slimy as Nicholas.
In conclusion, a decent film that is lifted by its cast especially. 7/10 Bethany Cox