Tamara Drewe

Gemma! Gemma! Gemma! That's in sum the three essential factors that captivated me throughout the film and earned those three stars out of deep love. To be more precise: Gemma Arterton has a beautiful smile, Gemma Arterton has beautiful eyes, Gemma Arterton has the most beautiful nose under the sun after Gérard Depardieu :-) It's a great pity that the otherwise very interesting and sexually non-committal story slips too often into unintentional parody, that the likeable characters are mostly animals running around, and that one of the most horrible ones was played by my Gemma, whose character I unfortunately had quite an aversion to at the end. Otherwise, I’m satisfied, I watched what I was expecting to watch :) 60% (2013.08.17)

I no longer remembered the plot, so watching it again today wasn't so much a rewatch as a renewed premiere. I don’t think the passage of time has had any effect on my original rating. I’m usually into comedies nicely blended with drama, it's just that the romance in this film smacked too much of trashy romance novels, which isn’t exactly my kind of thing. The characters were well-portrayed. Given the relatively small space, they were nicely fleshed out and had depth, so I wasn't so much drawn in by the story itself but by the characters. I also loved the idea of a nursing home for writers. I imagine that meeting so many artists is something that I’d find a little overwhelming. Gemma Arterton made me add one star to my rating. / Lesson learned: The country is full of dangerous flora and fauna. (2022.10.30)

This movie is really befitting the word “subtle”. The only anomaly about that is the gorgeous Gemma Arterton who surpasses everything subtle about the movie. Apart from the word subtle, “relaxed” and “dry” also suits the movie. And that’s about it. I think that the classic country character could have been introduced far better, like in another British movie – The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. In any case, it’s a relaxed piece and if you don’t have any other movie ready for the evening, it’s pleasant to watch. (2012.10.22)