Far From the Extolling Crowd

Intellectuals, infidelity and teen infatuation run amok
by
Morgan P Salvo

Tamara Drewe, the newest installment from director Stephen Frears, has both great moments and glaring faults. A black comedy, TD is adapted from a comic-strip-turned-graphic novel by Posy Simmonds, which itself is based on Thomas Hardy's novel Far From the Maddening Crowd. In the countryside of a writer’s retreat, the once the ugly duckling Tamara Drewe, now a glamorous-yet-confused journalist with a life-changing nose job returns to sell her house. This Tamara is not to be confused with Tamara, the ax-wielding cheerleader-killing-machine, although that might have been the gimmick this flick needed.

Director Frears has delivered on romantic sappiness before with The Snapper and The Van that play out like catchy tunes without all the sweetness.He even makes movies I liked (Prick up Your Ears and The Grifters) but most recognizable are Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity and The Queen. But here his stylish filmmaking is all slick substance, the timing of the humor hitting the mark only occasionally. By the time we get to the heavy stuff it’s way too late. Tamara could’ve used a dose of dark interposed with humor instead of light until the bitter end.The performances were great to mediocre. Questionable were the American dweeb (Bill Camp), name dropping Thomas Hardy or the drummer from the band Swipe (Dominic Cooper), who couldn’t make up his mind if he was Robert Smith from The Cure or Prince. Gemma Arterton (Clash of Titans/Prince of Persia) takes some getting used to but at least she’s not playing a princess this time. Roger Allan (Speed Racer/V for Vendetta) and Tamsin Greig (Shaun of the Dead) kick it up a notch, flawlessly handling messy infidelity and all its emotional intricacies. The bored, fanatical, band-worshipping girls (Jessica Barden, Charlotte Christie) steal the show, their immature meddling being the impetus behind the farce that ensues. Swipe’s song “Corporate Domestic Dispute” could be right out of Spinal Tap.

The use of superimposing flashbacks in the background or split-screen adds a nice touch but what is really boiling under the surface here never seems to explode.There are snippets of very funny dialogue but the quirkiness is dissociated with the seriousness of it all. The seductive mind games aren’t really all intact here. For all the time spent developing each character the scenarios fall through the cracks. Some liaisons aren’t explained believably. Even with all the jealousy, unrequited love, sex, vandalism, intellectual posturing, small town gossip and full circle revelations, in the end all the little ironies get ironed out. From the previews it seemed Tamara would come back and wreak havoc on those who abused her when she was ugly through seduction and a sea of witty banter, but she turns out to be just as clueless as everyone else.
Tamara Drewe may be too clever for its own good. The bull’s-eye was right there but the arrow just took too many detours. At least Mo Tucker, drummer from The Velvet Underground, is mentioned.
Tamara Drewe

Starring Gemma Arterton, Roger Allan, Luke Evans, Tamsin Greig
Directed by Stephen Frears
Rated R
2 ½ stars