Paul-257-230661
If you liked the Tamara Drewe serialisation in the Guardian or bought the graphic novel or are just a fan of Posy Simmonds, prepare to be disappointed.In the first place, the film is the original work forced into the straitjacket of "comedy". This means the original ending has been totally re-written, since teenage girls dying of solvent abuse isn't something that could be played for laughs, not to mention the possibility of messing up the certification. It also means some characters are made into clownish caricatures, principally supposed indie drummer Ben Sergeant whom Dominic Cooper plays as some ridiculous greaseball rock-n-roller so that we might believe the writers' last experience of popular music was going to see David Essex in That'll Be The Day in 1973. Barden and Christie also overplay the teenage awkwardness of Jody and Casey to the extent that Charlotte Christie at times seems to lumber about like Frankenstein's Igor, which leads to the second problem: mis-casting.Gemma Arterton is pretty. Luke Evans is good, Bill Camp is good, the others are all wrong. See above for Dominic Cooper. Tamsin Greig is too hot to be frumpy fifty-something Beth but Roger Allam not hot enough to be her philandering husband: he has a face that says "Harrumph" and its hard to believe a queue of younger women are waiting to bed him. Bronagh Gallagher is added as another clown whose Ian Paisley voice doesn't work among the up themselves novelists.The film is a bimbo. It's not so bad if you want a few giggles with darling scenery, screwball characters and a pretty actress who looks nice with not much on, but if you actually want an adaptation, stay away.
Tweekums
I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down to watch this; I'd read that it was a comic updating of Thomas Hardy's 'Far From the Madding Crowd' and was curious to see how it would be done… even though my knowledge of the original is limited to a television adaptation. In a Dorset village things are about to change; Tamara Drewe is coming home and this once ugly duckling has had a nose job and become a beautiful swan who quickly catches the eyes of local men. These include former boyfriend Andy and married author Nicholas Hardiment, although the man to catch her is visiting rock star Ben Sergeant. The couple are soon engaged to be married but things go wrong when Jody, a jealous school, girl breaks into Tamara's house and sends out an email from Tamara's account inviting Ben, Andy and Nicolas to come round to her house and have sex! As her engagement collapses she falls into the arms of the older man Nicolas; this relationship doesn't last long though as Jody's friend Casey snaps the two of them together and sends it to his wife. As the end approaches the key question is; who will Tamara end up with? She isn't the only person who will get a new man though.I enjoyed this far more than I expected; at first I thought the set up looked like an episode of 'Midsomer Murders' without the murder… but perhaps that isn't a bad thing! Gemma Arteron was a delight as Tamara; I can understand why the men of the village fell for her; especially after seeing her in hot-pants! Other notable performances came from Roger Allam who played Nicolas Hardiment, Tamsin Greig who played his wife Beth and Jessica Barden who played school girl Jody. The story was fun with quite a few laughs and a good set of characters. Some might complain that it is more televisual rather than cinematic but I didn't see that as a problem; I thought the look gave it a pleasantly familiar feel. The story contains nothing too offensive although some may be offended by the swearing and the small amount of fairly innocent nudity.
robert-temple-1
This is a wonderful film by Steve Frears, one of the best he has ever directed. The casting is perfect, and the performances are all perfect as well. The film is set in Dorset, and was largely shot on location there. (Dorset, for those who do not know, is in the southwest of England, is very rural, and is where Thomas Hardy set most of his novels, using the invented name of 'Wessex' to designate Dorset and its surrounding areas.) The film is sublimely subtle in its humour and its satire, which is important, because the entire film is satirical. Every character is the focus of affectionate and gentle satire, and no one is taken at face value. Some of the characters are more extreme examples than others. For instance, the successful crime novelist played by Roger Allam is shown as a suffocatingly smug, self-regarding, egotistical, conceited ass, wallowing in his commercial success and taking that as proof of his superiority over other mere mortals. He is the most antipathetic of the characters by far, as he is meant to be. The most powerful performance in the film, surprisingly, is by a young girl named Jessica Barden. She plays a 15 year-old schoolgirl who is obsessed with a pop star. Not since CLUELESS (1995) has such a hilarious and powerful satire of a teen-aged girl been seen on screen. Barden was actually 17 when she filmed this, but she is small and looks convincingly 15. By stealing the show, she reminds me of the young stage actress Bryony Hannah who stole the stage show of Lillian Hellman's THE CHILDREN'S HOUR in London in 2010, eclipsing those two ancient actresses Keira Knightley and Elizabeth Moss. Sometimes these kids can walk away with the prize, leaving the older pros behind in the dust. Jessica Barden is even more overwhelming a screen presence than Juno Temple, another young actress who steals scenes from her elders all the time. With kids like that around, no older actress's laurels are safe. Compared to Barden, who is as wild as if she were high on coke throughout the shooting, Gemma Arterton as the title character Tamara Drewe comes across as so tame she seems half-asleep. But that adds to the charm of her dotty character. She is meant to be rather dreamy and tentative, since she is after all recovering from a nose job. When she was younger she had a huge nose which spoiled her appearance, and she was rudely called 'Conk'. Now she is a sexpot with a small nose and all male heads turn as she passes. So she returns to the tiny village, or hamlet, of Ewedown in Dorset, where she grew up, ostensibly to sell her mother's house, but really to parade her new self amongst those who knew her before. (As regards Ewedown, for those not familiar with farming, it perhaps should be mentioned that a ewe is a female sheep, just as a sow is a female pig, and a mare is a female horse, and just as there is nothing I can name that is anything like a dame. I think I should charge for all this advice.) Well, old flames rise from the cinders of the past, and are fanned by various tumultuous events (or at least what passes for tumult in a village). And then there is Jessica Barden sneaking into Tamara's house and sending wicked emails which people think are from Tamara. Naughty, naughty. The other 'best performance' in the film (I know there cannot be two 'bests', but who cares about grammar when making a point) is by the amazing Tamsin Greig, as the long-suffering wife of the conceited crime novelist. She simply acts everyone but Barden right off the screen. Greig is primarily known for her television and radio work, but she really ought to be in lots more feature films, especially as she has perfect comic timing and can also do trauma, sadness, and shock really well. Luke Evans plays a hunk and does very well at it, if you like hunks, and girls do, for some mysterious reason which I have never fathomed. (Girls also wonder why gentlemen prefer blondes.) He once dumped Tamara when she was a young 'Conk', but still loves her and hovers round the edges, occasionally peering through her windows. Dominic Cooper is marvellous as a spoilt rock star who has tantrums. He provides an excellent caricature. A main aspect of the story is a centre for aspiring writers in the village, presided over by the dutiful Greig and her arrogant husband. This provides scope for some high comedy concerning the 'residents', including one who will not allow anyone to speak to him when he has his hat on. The earnest American with writer's block who is supposed to be writing a biography of Hardy is the most charming, and is well portrayed. Someone has described this film as 'drenched in sarcasm', but I think a better description is 'soaked in satire'. The satire is not cruel, so it is wrong to call it sarcasm. The general theme of this film is the follies of which we are all capable, and it takes delight in showing us how silly we all are, but it does so gently. The whole thing is great fun, and so entertaining. People with no sense of humour will not understand a thing. This film is a comedy with such a light touch that its humour seems to brush you with a feather. It is really very, very difficult to pull off a comedy of this kind successfully. It is far easier to shoot tragedy than a successful comedy. When the crew start laughing you know you are in trouble, because that means you are doing too many 'in-jokes' and the public won't like it or understand it. This thoroughly delightful film wafts across our funny bones like a Dorset breeze.
