Filed under: Published film reviews | Tags: film review, Gemma Arterton, Posy Simmonds, Stephen Frears, Tamara Drewe
A young newspaper columnist returns to her hometown in the English countryside, where her childhood home is being prepared for sale, and causes a stir with her flirtatious ways.
Tamara Drewe is based on Posy Simmonds’ comic strip, which was inspired by Thomas Hardy’s book Far from the Madding Crowd, and ran in The Guardian from 2005-2007 before being collected into a graphic novel. And this was a pure graphic novel in the sense that the text, which gently satirizes the English middle class, was given equal footing with Simmonds’ illustrations.
Director Stephen Frears’ (The Queen, High Fidelity) film is fond of its characters even as it pokes fun of them (“takes the piss”) and is immensely humorous – you leave the cinema with a smile. This is also an excellent showcase for Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace, St. Trinian’s 1 & 2), who shows us that not only does she have poise, she can act. (Certificate 15)
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Victoria Jelinek 