Dames tend to review the utmost (9)
I believe the answer is:
damnedest
'the utmost' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'dames tend to review' is the wordplay.
'to review' is an anagram indicator.
'dames'+'tend'='damestend'
'damestend' is an anagram of 'DAMNEDEST'.
(Other definitions for damnedest that I've seen before include "Superlative effort" , "The very best" , "Maximum effort" .)