Stephen Frears has been doing the directing thing (jobs are things) for quite some time. Looking at the man's resume, you see plenty of genres and sub-genres; historical drama (THE QUEEN), seedy thriller (DIRTY PRETTY THINGS) and break-up comedy (HIGH FIDELITY). And just so you definitely get the point, he also has a dash of horror (MARY REILLY) and a con-story (THE GRIFTERS) on his resume, and hey, there is more - but you get the idea  He's not scared of wide genre-jumping, and I'm not afraid of talking very informally in my interview write ups (Oh, and I'm not afraid of getting self-aware in my writing).

Yet, there is a strong connection between all of Frears film, regardless of the assigned genre, as it really all comes down to the characters with him. The people tend to actually become the story, so the type of film actually becomes of little relevance; a genre really is just window-dressing for Stephen Frears. With TAMARA DREWE there really isn't the gloss of a genre, not shocking given Frears' focus, as the best way to describe the type of film is "people". You could argue drama or comedy but the film eases too organically between those two broad genres, as if it is real life, keeping TAMARA DREWE from being definitely defined as a drama, comedy or even dramedy.

In TAMARA DREWE the title character is a city journalist that returns home to rural roots and the chaos that her presence causes on the townspeople as well as the chaos they bring on themselves. TAMARA DREWE has interesting and eclectic characters, fine performances, and a skilled hand behind the camera that understands exactly why these characters are interesting, ensuring the characters breathe naturally and lively in front of the lens.

The genre-free nature of Frears new film was touched on in my recent interview with the director. Plus, OTHER THINGS, and you can check out the whole interview below, which I did with my buddy Andrew Conway of the Anglikablog. Now you know why you will here a total of three voices below. Enjoy.

Stephen Frears Interview from Angelika Film Center on Vimeo.