Tamara Drewe [DVD]

Stephen Frears directs this comedy drama about an ugly duckling followed by a handful of suitors after maturing into a sexy swan. Tamara Drewe (Gemma Arterton), born and raised in Ewedown, a quiet community on the outskirts of London dominated by a writer's colony run by Nicholas Hardiment (Roger Allam), a best-selling novelist who specializes in crime fiction, and his wife Beth (Tamsin Greig). When Tamara left Ewedown, she was a plain and awkward teenager, but when she returns home for the first time in years, the locals are surprised to discover that time (and a nose job) have turned her into an attractive and alluring woman, and she's gained a share of money and fame thanks to a successful newspaper column. Returning to refurbish the home of her recently deceased mother, Tamara soon finds herself pursued by three men from her past - Andy Cobb (Luke Evans), her former boyfriend; Ben Sergeant (Dominic Cooper), the swaggering drummer with a local indie rock band flirting with larger success; and Nicholas (Roger Allam), who is chronically unfaithful to his wife and sees an opportunity with the neighbourhood girl who was infatuated with him in her teens. <BR><BR>TAMARA DREW, adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Posy Simmonds, makes for a charming and engaging movie and another successful production by screen legend Stephen Frears.