Tamara Drewe

Tamara Drewe is a graphic novel by Posy Simmonds, which was made into a movie by Stephen Frears in 2010.

The title character is a young journalist who comes back to the small Dorset town she grew up in to sell the family house after her mother's death. Once there, her presence upsets a small community of aspiring writers who have gathered for a literary retreat at the house of crime author Nicholas Hardiment. She finds herself caught in a Love Dodecahedron involving her first love, a hot indie drummer, the philandering Hardiment, and two bored teenage girls.

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Tropes used in Tamara Drewe include:

• All Drummers Are Animals: Lampshaded by Ben Sergeant. "Are you going to ask me what my influences were? Phil Collins? Animal from the Muppets?... What have you heard about drummers? That we're all fucking insane? [Begins to use kitchen implements as an impromptu drum set]"
• Ascended Extra: Jodie and Casey get more prominent roles in the film adaptation. Their meddling drives the story forward to such an extent that one could say the movie is really about them, and the consequences of their antics on other people's lives.
• Bittersweet Ending: The graphic novel. The movie's ending is more upbeat.
• The Casanova: Nicholas Hardiment.
• Chekhov's Gun: The cows.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Ben, in the graphic novel. Less so in the movie, though he can still be fairly foul-mouthed.
• Demoted to Extra: Much of the graphic novel is told from the perspective of Beth, Nicholas's wife, but in the movie she's more of a supporting character.
• Fan Service: Tamara's ultra-short Daisy Dukes.
• Fille Fatale: Jodie. She even gets a song written about her, "Jail-bait Jodie".
• Gag Nose: Tamara's before she had it surgically redone.
• Gossipy Hens: Jodie and Casey as the teenage version.
• Greek Chorus: Provided by Jodie and Casey, before they decide to not just watch the action but to interfere with it.
• Jerkass: In the graphic novel, at least, Nicholas entertains a party by mocking Tamara's column.
• Looking for Love In All the Wrong Places: Tamara. Other women speculate it's because she grew up fatherless.
• Loser Protagonist: Glen. "I'm a loser's loser. I'm the loser other losers come to for advice."
• Love Dodecahedron: Hoo boy.
  • Nicholas and Beth are married.
  • Nicholas cheats on Beth with several women, including Tamara.
  • Tamara gets engaged to Ben.
  • Jodie is obsessed with Ben.
  • Ben can't get over his old girlfriend.
  • Tamara and Andy were teenage lovers, and there is still something there, especially on Andy's end.
  • Andy is also screwing an Australian barmaid.
  • A romance develops between Beth and Glen.
• Meaningful Name: In the graphic novel, the crime writer's name was Hardiman. One supposes it was changed to Hardiment because one possible meaning of the name is "lies brazenly" in French. Both versions of the name are also, of course, a reference to Thomas Hardy.
• Scrapbook Story: The graphic novel tells the story from multiple first-person recollections and includes such documents as newspaper and magazine clippings.
• She's All Grown Up: The last time anyone in Ewedown had seen Tamara, she was an awkward teenager. Coming back as an attractive 25-year-old woman, she gets every man's attention.
• Shirtless Scene: The opening scene displays the ruggedly handsome Andy chopping wood shirtless.
• Shout-Out: The plot is loosely based on Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd, a reference lampshaded at the beginning of the story.
• Split Screen: During phone calls and on other occasions.
• Stalker with a Crush: Jodie.
• With This Ring: Played straight at first, when Ben proposes to Tamara by giving her a diamond ring. Rapidly subverted in that Ben admits he had initially bought it for his previous girlfriend.
• Zettai Ryouiki: Jodie wears her schoolgirl uniform that way.