Review of Tamara Drewe (2010) by Mark H — 12 Sep 2010

When I first saw the trailer for Tamara Drewe, I was delighted that there were so many people in it that I liked. Gemma Arteton, Roger Allam, Tamsin Grieg and Dominic Cooper are generally good value. (Iâ??m even starting to forgive Arteton for her role in Clash of the Titans. Really.).

Over the weeks, however, seeing the trailer again and again left me with a feeling of impending disaster, so it was with some trepidation that I took my seat.

I shouldnâ??t have worried.

Tamara Drewe is based on the â??graphic novelâ?? (collected comic strips) by Posy Simmonds. I confess that Iâ??ve long been an admirer of her work since her strip â??Unheard of Ambridgeâ?? that appeared in the long-missed Listener magazine, but I havenâ??t read any of her Tamara Drewe stuff.

Stephen Frears (with his sticky out ears) has four filters for his cameras, one equating to each of the four seasons, so the film is broken up into these four segments.

Much of the action takes place in and around a writerâ??s retreat run by Allamâ??s philandering writer of pot-boiler whodunits and his long-suffering wife, played by Tamsin Grieg. And man is she long suffering! As ever with Grieg, though, she manages to play a character we all recognise as entirely real. While there is an element of caricature in all of the main roles (perhaps inevitable in an adaptation of a graphic novel), Griegâ??s performance is grounded and vital. Sheâ??s really good.

But the film is entirely stolen by Jody and Casey, two bored teenage girls stuck in this rural dead end of a village where the best place to hang out is the local bus shelter (the bus cancelled several years ago). While at first, they appear as light relief, they become crucial to the plot and carry it magnificently.

I ended up really enjoying Tamara Drewe. Yes, itâ??s probably aimed more at the distaff side but most of the laughter I heard in my showing was of a distinctly masculine nature.