Tamara (2005)

As Good As It Gets

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Movies like this always crack me up. They try and appear hip and trendy, but they end up looking like low budget direct to video titles. Jenna is about as basic as a girl gets. I don't find her attractive at all making this subject matter of the film that more laughable. I'll give her a B+ on body, but that face is beyond butta. She can dance, there is no question about it, but her acting skills are on par with the likes of Paris Hilton. I'm sure this movie was inspired by Carrie and went on to inspire movies like Jennifer's Body, but if you are planning on this film having any substance, you will be extremely disappointed with the product. I don't recognize any or the cast of this film, so I am going to assume they were nobody's when they were cast and never got another or better break after this film. I really can't say anything positive about this movie, it was the definition of horrible.

A shy and somewhat homely high school girl named "Tamara Riley" (Jenna Dewan-Tatum) writes an article for her school newspaper concerning steroid use among some of the student body and some people affected by this revelation seek their revenge upon her. So they trick her into believing that her English teacher, "Bill Natolly" (Michael Marsden), who she has a crush on, is waiting for her in a hotel room. Once there they videotape her taking her clothes off and getting into bed. When she realizes she's been duped a struggle ensues and she is killed. But what the students who set her up don't realize is that she is a witch and has cast a spell upon herself which brings her back to life. Only this time she is neither shy nor homely. But she is very vengeful. At any rate, in my opinion this movie was surprisingly good. The acting was fine as was the script and the cinematography. One particular fault was the students generally looked older than what you would find in a typical high school. But that often happens with movies of this type so it isn't anything unusual. And while the plot was hardly novel the film did have several attractive women in Katie Stuart ("Chloe"), Melissa Marie Elias ("Keesha") and the aforementioned Jenna Dewan-Tatum. Worth a watch for those who like films of this type.

Even 4 stars is being generous... A hokey but original premise full of potential that starts great but slowly boils down to a half baked, clichéd mess.The films primary downfall is the horrendously skewed sense or morality. The movie begins with a disturbingly real story of an alienated girl who is bullied at school only to go home to her alcoholic, sexually abusing father. On top of this, she's infatuated with her English teacher a good 10 years her senior who is also married to another member of the faculty.Even after discovering her interest in the black arts we still feel for her. Now the movie could have just focused around this part and could have passed as a solid coming of age high school drama but anyone watching the movie knows whats coming and after seeing the abuse she takes...we want her to get some sweet satisfying revenge.Tamara's revenge is weak and poorly executed and the movie starts to focus on the teens that did her wrong. Now we as an audience are confused about who we are voting for. DO we cheer for the pompous high school jocks who killed an innocent young girl? Or do we cheer for the vengeful demon seductress whose first victim was the nerdy AV kid who actually didn't take much part in her death? Well we WANT to cheer for Tamara but the movie forces is in the other direction unfortunately Even this becomes the least of your worries as the movie slowly melts into oblivion in the final chapter with a lame conclusion and a "shocker" ending that makes no sense whatsoever. Even Tamara's character gets less and less screen time towards the end.Even with the lame execution, the movie was somewhat entertaining and the first half is enough to give it a bit of a credit...but even so...it isn't recommended.

Tamara is pretty much a Carrie rip-off, even the poster art is almost identical. Whether it was intended to be original or not, I'm not sure, but with a few less clichés and a bit more character development, this could have been a film like May, smart and scary, and eccentric. Perhaps this film is a 'takes one to know one' kind of story. socially troubled girls, may find this emotional but everyone else will see Tamara as what it is, a sexy, but shallow horror movie. Tamara Riley becomes the most hated girl in school after she writes a news paper article which rats out a number of her school mates in a certain way. One night, a bunch of them play a nasty prank on her, but things go wrong and she is accidentally killed. In the panic, they bury her body in the woods, but somehow she comes back from the dead, more cunning and sexy than before, and with a mind for revenge.The trick to enjoying the movie is whether or not you feel engaged enough to root for the protagonist. She was done a major injustice but she is also doing injustice to others. The sex appeal of Tamara is really secondary. Tamara is nothing more or less than amusing in a twisted way, but if you want a similar movie that actually gets you thinking, watch May.