Tamara Drewe
Cinema Nova, 03/02/2011
Movie #9 for 2011
I don’t know about this one, I just don’t know. It had a bunch of the right ingredients so that – despite seeing the terrible preview at the Nova nothing short of a dozen times – I still wanted to see what a STEPHEN FREARS (High Fidelity, The Queen) film, with a solid cast, based on Posy Simmond’s terrific graphic novel would turn out to be. The answer, sadly, is “myeh”.
Beth (TASMIN GREIG, Black Books) runs a writer’s retreat and small holding in the English country-side with the help of Andy (LUKE EVANS, Robin Hood). Her husband Nicholas (ROGER ALLAM, V for Vendetta, Speed Racer) is a writer and professional philanderer. While an American writer on sabbatical starts taking notice of Beth, Nicholas starts taking notice of Tamara Drewe (GEMMA ATERTON, The Disappearance of Alice Creed) a young London journalist who has returned to fix up her dead mother’s house for sale. She turns Andy’s head too, especially when she brings home rock star Ben (DOMINIC COOPER, The History Boys).
I’m a real fan of Posy Simmond’s book (review here) and even as I was reading it, I felt like it would easily to translate it into a decent film. But MOIRA BUFFINI's screenplay has chucked Simmonds’ dark and complex mood out the window in favor of a kind of sex-romp, which makes the climactic tragedy stick in the craw. Simmonds’ events and characters are turned on their heads and – despite using voiceover – the film never captures the depth of internal monologue that the book does.
To be clear, though, it's not only that I don't think it's a very good adaptation. I also don't think it's a very good film.
To be clear, though, it's not only that I don't think it's a very good adaptation. I also don't think it's a very good film.
