Tamara Drewe

Posy Simmonds based her graphic novel on Thomas Hardy's "Far From the Madding Crowd" and turned it into a contemporary social comedy, which director Frears follows in his adaptation. Now a sexy newspaper columnist, formerly gawky Tamara (Arterton) returns to her home village to fix up and sell the family home and stuns much of the local male population, including a vain adulterous writer, a preening rock musician, and her stoic ex-teenage flame. The ensemble cast is as vivid and delightful as the England backdrop.