The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Being only able to give Tamara Drewe just two cheers makes me feel oddly churlish. It has a great cast and the ensemble does well and the setting is great (though a little worse weather, even a few duller days, would have made the rural setting rather more truthful - friends we really don't get that much sunshine in Old Blighty, not even in Hardy's Dorset). So why my reservations?Well, I think it has to do with the fact that the film is based 'on a graphic novel' that was, I think, in turn based on a newspaper strip cartoon. And there's the rub: you can get away with a great deal more in a cartoon than you can in straight film (which, after all is what Tamara Drewe is). In the graphic novel I'm sure the story made perfect sense in that it doesn't really have to make a great deal of sense. But on film? Hmm.The set-up is promising enough, but as the film goes on it doesn't really hang together all that well. You can't have it both ways: either the characters, especially Tamare Drewe herself, behave naturalisticaly or they don't. But they can't do both. I can accept Tamara falling for the crass drummer, but wholly inexplicable is why she later goes on to bed the narcissistic middle-age philandering crime novelist. And that man's wife might be gullible, but surely to goodness outside of a graphic novel no one is that gullible. Another character who is more at home in the graphic novel is the free- loving barmaid at the local pub. And exactly what role she plays in the whole set-up is none to clear.Having said that, Tamara Drewe is a pleasant way to spend 90 minutes, but it might have been even more pleasant had the producers decided to make of it a different animal entirely. Merely providing a film version of the graphic novel doesn't really cut it. Shame.

Throughly enjoyed this film. The characters married beautifully to such a deliciously scribed plot, and were oh so believable... even the cringe factor worked - when gorgeous Tamara stoops well short (way shorter than her short shorts-geez if only i could pull that look off...) and sleeps with the guy who reminds me of Christopher Hitchens (... nice brain - ah, Hitchens, that is, but shame about the rest...)... and the schoolgirls - oh..the two teenage girls totally carried this movie they were AWESOME !! Anybody who did not enjoy this movie hasn't been around. The various characters - the lecherous writer, the 'put upon' housewife, the rock star and the hotel licensee were fantastically observed characters. I loved it!

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.

The movie,Tamara Drewe was adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Posy Simmonds, which was in turn inspired by Thomas Hardy's novel Far From the Madding Crowd.It stars Gemma Arterton on the title role as Tamara Drewe, together with Roger Allam,Bill Camp,Dominic Cooper,Luke Evans,Tamsin Greig and Jessica Barden.Stephen Frears directed this comedy drama about an ugly duckling who's followed by a handful of suitors after maturing into a sexy swan.Tamara Drewe was born and raised in Ewedown, a quiet community on the outskirts of London dominated by a writer's colony run by Nicholas Hardiment, a best-selling novelist who specializes in crime fiction, and his wife Beth. When Tamara left Ewedown, she was a plain and awkward teenager, but when she returns home for the first time in years, the locals are surprised to discover that time (and a nose job) have turned her into an attractive and alluring woman, and she's gained a share of money and fame thanks to a successful newspaper column. Tamara has returned to Ewedown after the death of her mother in order to refurbish the family home and put it on the market. Before long, Tamara finds herself pursued by three men from her past -- Andy Cobb, her former boyfriend who has been hired to help fix up the house; Ben Sergeant ), the swaggering drummer with a local indie rock band flirting with larger success; and Nicholas, who is chronically unfaithful to his wife and sees an opportunity with the neighborhood girl who was infatuated with him in her teens.This modern day ugly duckling tale wasn't absorbing nor compelling.The narrative adopts an increasingly episodic feel that one's interest begins to wane as the film progresses.It only serves as a reliable dispenser of visual and erotic pleasures.Also,Gemma Arterton wasn't interesting enough in her portrayal that the viewer would not care about Tamara Drewe at all.