{"id":2294,"date":"2011-02-10T15:58:50","date_gmt":"2011-02-10T20:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2294"},"modified":"2011-02-10T15:58:50","modified_gmt":"2011-02-10T20:58:50","slug":"dvd-tama-drewe-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2294","title":{"rendered":"DVD: Tama Drewe (2010)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to: <\/strong>Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>T to U<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Film: Good \/ DVD Transfer: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label: Sony Classics \/ Region: 1 (NTSC) \/\u00a0Released:\u00a0February 8, 2011<\/p>\n

Genre: British Comedy<\/p>\n

Synopsis: A former ugly duckling returns to her home town and creates a stir among gossipy citizens.<\/p>\n

Special Features: \u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Everything within Posy Simmonds\u2019 graphic novel is a winning combination: an ugly duckling (Tamara Drewe) returning home an absolute hottie, a studly ex-flame who\u2019s fallen from financial grace, weary townsfolk with their own little secrets, and a writers\u2019 retreat where fertile imaginations run amuck. Add a rocker, teeny bopper fan-girls, and Tamara unleashing the power of juvenile jealousy, and you get a m\u00e9lange of story threads that converge into an exposure of disruptive secrets, with at least one happy ending.<\/p>\n

The problem with Moira Buffini\u2019s film adaptation is it an attempt to provide aspects of everything within a 2-hour running time, and what\u2019s ultimately onscreen are flat characters who could\u2019ve benefitted from deeper scenes had the first third not been expressly focused on the writer\u2019s retreat run by a philandering best-selling author (deliciously snotty Roger Allam), and the guests who have no purpose in the film beyond location d\u00e9cor.<\/p>\n

The exception is Yankee author Glen (Bill Camp), who hangs around through the seasons without much of an explanation from the filmmakers, except perhaps he\u2019s a long-term guest, renting space for a year to finish his book on Thomas Hardy.<\/p>\n

That loss of time is significant, because it ensures the film\u2019s titular character never develops beyond a tarty wench intent on using her past pain and pre-nose job history for a new book. Tamara happens to be a journalist \u2013 apparently in tight with the music industry \u2013 and it\u2019s while covering a concert with a hot band (the fictional Swipe) that she falls for, beds, rapidly becomes engaged to, and heads back to London with drummer \/ primary writer Ben (a tight little pretentious twit, as portrayed by Dominic Cooper).<\/p>\n

Tamara\u2019s relationship with Ben begins with a smash-cut, and that\u2019s how their romance, etc. are dramatized and edited, but once Tamara accepts his lazy wedding proposal, she becomes as superficial as Ben, making their strained relationship exceptionally dull.<\/p>\n

Gemma Arterton tries to give Tamara as many dimensions as possible within her flat scenes (adding some backside nudity now and then), but she can\u2019t bring life to a cartoon character that\u2019s introduced with Britcom wit, teased with cruelty by Ben\u2019s teen fans, and is later affected by the sudden tragedy of neighbour.<\/p>\n

On paper, the story may have worked \u2013 leaving the reader\u2019s impressions to vivify any of the author\u2019s shortcomings \u2013 but the film adaptation lacks needed depth to make the mood changes affecting. Frears\u2019 decision to have Alexandre Desplat stick to one theme with little variation may function as the film\u2019s comedic motor, bit it\u2019s also indicative of several key creative missteps; it\u2019s a luscious production, but it unfolds like a familiar British comedy of rudeness and missed manners, albeit elongated beyond its natural length.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2011 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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Related links:<\/em><\/p>\n

CD: \u00a0Tamara Drewe<\/a><\/strong> (2010)<\/p>\n

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External References<\/em>:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— On Posy Simmonds<\/a> — Film Website<\/a> — Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Buy from:<\/em><\/p>\n

Amazon.com<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0Tamara Drewe<\/a><\/p>\n

Amazon.ca<\/strong> –\u00a0Tamara Drewe<\/a><\/p>\n

Amazon.co.uk <\/strong> –\u00a0Tamara Drewe [DVD] [2010]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> <\/em><\/em><\/em>\/\u00a0T to U<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to: Home \/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews \/ T to U . Film: Good \/ DVD Transfer: Excellent Label: Sony Classics \/ Region: 1 (NTSC) \/\u00a0Released:\u00a0February 8, 2011 Genre: British Comedy Synopsis: A former ugly duckling returns to her home town and creates a stir among gossipy citizens. Special Features: \u00a0n\/a . . Review: Everything […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[298,296,297,95],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-B0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2294"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2294"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2305,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2294\/revisions\/2305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}