Stephen Frears seems to have sleep-walked through this. After watching it, I find it hard to find any redeeming qualities in the whole mess. I guess that's the point. The characters are all cringe-worthy. The moral, if there is one, is completely corrupt. The story does little but paint caricatures of women and men. Yet, there is something in the aftertaste that is slightly beguiling.
No one in this film comes out better for the telling. The only likable character isn't likable at all. Beth is the dim-witted, dull wife of despicable famous author and the supposed victim of the piece. But she is so dull, so dim you don't give a rat's bum for her. Even her pining American suitor is so ineffectual that you want to pummel him.
But that's just what the idiot does to the husband. Here's the rub. The cheating husband is head-butted, gashed on the back of the head and trampled by a stampede of cows. Meanwhile the despicable titular character and a teenage witch who cause most of the pain are not only given a moral pass but rewarded in the end for their devious ways.
It's a curious mixture, this movie. I sense the comic strip upon which it is based has far more subtlety and wit. Then again, who knows? In a movie that rewards bad behaviour in women, where ineffectual men are the norm and the only punishment is heaped on a promiscuous male, you have a movie that seems not fully realized.
Technically, Tamara Drewe is a decent flick. It looks good. There are some memorable performances. The aftertaste lasts a little longer than the movie itself. That's a good thing. It's just that the whole thing feels kind of, well, icky. One character of merit wouldn't hurt. This is not a comic strip. It's a movie. As viewers, we need that one last bit of humanity to hang on to.
No one in this film comes out better for the telling. The only likable character isn't likable at all. Beth is the dim-witted, dull wife of despicable famous author and the supposed victim of the piece. But she is so dull, so dim you don't give a rat's bum for her. Even her pining American suitor is so ineffectual that you want to pummel him.
But that's just what the idiot does to the husband. Here's the rub. The cheating husband is head-butted, gashed on the back of the head and trampled by a stampede of cows. Meanwhile the despicable titular character and a teenage witch who cause most of the pain are not only given a moral pass but rewarded in the end for their devious ways.
It's a curious mixture, this movie. I sense the comic strip upon which it is based has far more subtlety and wit. Then again, who knows? In a movie that rewards bad behaviour in women, where ineffectual men are the norm and the only punishment is heaped on a promiscuous male, you have a movie that seems not fully realized.
Technically, Tamara Drewe is a decent flick. It looks good. There are some memorable performances. The aftertaste lasts a little longer than the movie itself. That's a good thing. It's just that the whole thing feels kind of, well, icky. One character of merit wouldn't hurt. This is not a comic strip. It's a movie. As viewers, we need that one last bit of humanity to hang on to.