Tamara, a girl lost finds happiness (or so she thinks!) in the most unexpected places, for example in the arms of narcissistic rocker Ben and by also having an affair with an acclaimed crime novelist Nicholas, who she previously had a crush on as a teenager. This film has a few too many story lines and considering the character 'Tamara Drewe' is the title of this feature, she barely even features in it, it's more about the trouble she causes. I felt the main protagonist throughout this film was Beth, the devoted farm wife or Nicholas; she continually allows him to be unfaithful to her and she always welcomes him back. This act of almost desperation, has led me to wonder... Is that all women would do after twenty five years of marriage? Take back a cheating, lying husband who explains that he and Beth are like '...compass needles, always meeting at North but the South is allowed to roam free.' What a repulsive, manipulative lie! Beth was portrayed as a frumpy grey haired wife who had more humour, wit and intelligence than any of the bimbos Nicholas had affairs with. What I felt most destroying about the marriage between this couple is when questioned by Beth 'Why do you always cheat?' Nicholas replies; 'Because you let me.' This tears me apart; a woman's devotion to her 'pig' of a husband is being punished for always taking him back. Perhaps she should be; when you take a man back once, you will always take him back. Adultery is one man's way of getting from place to place from woman to woman. If you are a mistress then you are a man's stepping stone, you do not want to be that you want to be his milestone. Although it is her own doing, Beth is an absolutely beautiful character and I would have appreciated the whole film to be about her rather than Tamara.
Getting back to the film; Nicholas feels Tamara is the woman for him and is ready to leave Beth for her, this devotion is a little too much for Tamara and although previously being engaged to Ben realises that her heart really lies with Andy Cobb; a hard working, kind hearted farmer who decorates her house and who always has had a soft spot for her.
If this isn't enough characters for one film you also have the vile two teenagers who have major crushes on Ben the rocker, and Jody who is fifteen causes havoc by breaking into Tamara's house and basically absolutely ruining her relationships and her life; she also uses the crudest language which, to be honest, dampens the film for me. There is no need for such revolting language to be used, I am not pompous but towards the end both of them were getting on my wits end and I had literally had enough.
If you think this post is nearly finished then you are in for the long haul yet; Beth hosts a writers retreat throughout her film on her farm, where once particular writer has an intense crush on her. However although this may come across inititally sweet and exactly what she needs, again his abusive language and disgusting ways make me want to close my eyes whenever he comes on screen. It is un-necessary to describe in-detail, the course of a turd, or have a good 4 minutes of the same camera shot of him on the toilet.
My friend rightfully said 'every scene was action packed, there wasn't one where they just chilled.' Why was this? Because there were too many characters with too many stories. This film could had so much potential to be a stunner, perhaps even the next 'Calendar Girls.' Set in a small town where havoc rarely occurs, Tamara Drew turns up and suddenly the neighbours lives are turned upside down. Instead what we ended up with was a mish mash of all sorts of peoples storied where Tamara barely featured at all. Also her weird obsession with her nose was another un-necessary matter. Although I have ripped into this film, I did enjoy mainly because there was so much material to get my teeth into. If you have read to the end I applaud you and thank you dearly. If you are looking for a chick flick it wouldn't be my first choice. Although Tamara ends up with the desirable Andy Cobb, there is absolutely no romance blossoming between the two during the film only mild flirtation. I would definitely recommend for the storyline of Beth and Nicholas what a stellar performance from her; however be warned Nicholas does reach a rather grimy end. Something I definitely was not expecting...
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