About Starter for 10 (2006)
Coming-of-age comedy drama set in the mid-1980s, starring James McAvoy as working-class Essex boy Brian Jackson, who navigates his way through his first year at Bristol University and struggles to achieve his long-held ambition to appear on the TV quiz show Univeristy Challenge. Comedienne Catherine Tate co-stars as Brian’s smothering single mom.
Starring: James McAvoy, Rebecca Hall, Alice Eve, Mark Gatiss, Robert Cawsey
Directed by: Tom Vaughan
Runtime: 96 minutes
Studio: HBO Home Video
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Review: Starter for 10
Based on David Nicholls’ 2003 novel, Starter for 10 sees student Brian Jackson (James McAvoy) leave his working class roots in Essex for a place at Bristol University. Always thirsty for knowledge, Brian goes through the many trials of a first year at university, including winning a place on the team for University Challenge and falling for fellow team member Alice Harbinson (Alice Eve). Brian must balance his focus on the upcoming show with his feelings for Alice, problems with friends and family back home and his friendship with another student Rebecca Epstein (Rebecca Hall).
Brian’s is a fairly average background. We see him as a boy guessing answers on game shows in front of his proud father. In the present, Brian’s father has passed away and his mother Julie (Catherine Tate) has found a new lover, Des (John Henshaw), an ice cream van driver, much to Brian’s horror. In Southend Brian’s best friends are Spencer (Dominic Cooper) and Tone (James Corden) who are happy he is going to university but worry being with posh students might turn him into “a wanker.” At university Brian’s room mates are cross dressers and he prefers to keep to himself but he is soon making friends despite his passion just to learn. Rebecca is a Jewish activist Brian meets in a nightclub and they have a shaky start to their friendship but it’s clear they get along really well. However, when Brian joins the University Challenge team led by the strict Patrick Watts (Benedict Cumberbatch), he falls for fellow team mate Alice instead. Alice accepts Brian’s friendship but will anything else develop between them?
I actually enjoyed this film more than the adaptation of Nicholl’s more successful novel, One Day. I intend to read both books and compare them as well but in terms of the films I felt this was a better fit. James McAvoy is great in the lead but the only problem is it initially seems he’s meant to be a bespectacled geek but once the glasses are off it’s James McAvoy who appeals to many women. The rest of the cast are great. Hall’s Rebecca is the sort of girl you’d want to meet at university but Brian prefers Alice who will leave you pulling your hair out. The likes of Cooper, Corden and Mark Gatiss as Bamber Gascoigne complete this delightful film. It made me nostalgic for my university days but thankfully I didn’t end up in the same trouble as poor Brian does throughout the film.
Starter for 10 is a funny and charming British comedy about that tough first year at university. Combining a great cast with an amusing script, this works better for me than One Day did. I will look forward to reading Nicholl’s books and comparing them as well.
Verdict: 4/5
(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)
Film Review: Starter for 10 | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
