Starter for Ten is a highly enjoyable film based on the UK quiz show, “University Challenge”. Well, not quite I suppose - it’s actually a story about Brian Jackson, a young man who’s trying to make his way in the world, with an overwhelming desire to appear on that quiz show and an overriding memory of his dead father as someone with whom he used to enjoy watching quiz shows as a young boy. Brian (James McAvoy) makes it to University, to become embroiled in the crazy lifestyle and goings-on of university life. There he meets an attractive but destructive young woman, Alice (played by Alice Eve) and the also attractive, politically active Rebecca (played by Rebecca Hall). His first meeting with his two male flatmates is when he arrives at the house to find them in fancy dress for a Vicars and Tarts party - only they’re not dressed as vicars… yes, this is going to be a very interesting, and often very strange experience for Brian… of course when University Challenge beckons, he isn’t slow about putting himself forward. Knowledge is power, so they say… unfortunately, there are many things in life that knowledge alone cannot possibly prepare you for…

Though this would almost definitely appeal more to a British audience (we Brits are pretty obsessed with quiz shows for some reason and University Challenge is basically a national institution), Starter for Ten has enough laughs and likeable enough characters for anyone to enjoy. The overall theme of the film is that you will make mistakes - but what matters is what you do after that. This comes through with the characters being sometimes stupid, often irrational and sometimes almost evil - but there is always the chance of redemption. Comedienne Catherine Tate plays Brian’s mother and gives a good performance, and the way Brian’s struggle to come to terms with her new lover is handled in the same way as the rest of the film - unfussy, unsentimental, yet with great emotional resonance. McAvoy is tremendous, but then he’s been very good in everything I’ve seen him in so far. He portrays the character very believably and although we want to cuff him round the ears at times and tell him to get his act together, we never lose sympathy for him - he’s just trying to do his best without really knowing what he’s doing or even what he wants at times. His friends from his humble beginnings aren’t too keen on what he’s becoming, and sometimes cause him problems - but never truly desert him.

It’s all handled very nicely by Director Tom Vaughan , and there are plenty of cheesy comic moments to enjoy (some non-cheesy ones, too). I liked the soundtrack, though a lot of the music didn’t really strike me as eighties music - but the quirkiness of it made it fit the film perfectly. As already mentioned, McAvoy was excellent, Alice Eve was fine, and Rebecca Hall was very good. Another excellent young English actor (well okay not that young - he’s about my age!) who hasn’t quite had as flying a start to his career as McAvoy is Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the self-important, somewhat stuck-up captain of the university’s quiz team, Patrick. He creates some wonderful comic moments by virtue of his facial expression and voice alone. Elaine Tan, who seems to have mainly done TV work so far, was also excellent as Lucy Chang, who makes up the final member of the team. It’s a pity they didn’t make more of her character; she ends up just being the smart, dependable one of the group. She has a couple of funny moments but I would have liked to see more of her in the movie. Mark Gatis gives a credible impression of quiz presenter amber Gascgoine too.

Overall Starter for Ten is a very god, perhaps just about excellent British comedy. Unfortunately like another of my favourite British Films (About A Boy), a great film is let down by a disappointing DVD package. There are some good ideas for extras on this one - interviews and an interactive quiz along with the original theatrical trailer (which I always view as being of dubious value), but they’re poorly implemented. The Director as well as Writer (David Nichols) and several cast members are interviewed, but most of the interviews are pretty boring and I’m not convinced that the “show the question as text, then turn the sound on for the interviewee responding” format was a good idea. The interactive quiz is a bit limited, which rather detracts from its value.

Yes I know, I usually don’t even bother with the DVD extras, but these looked like they might be kind of interesting and since I watched them, I might as well mention them in the review. It’s a shame they weren’t up to much or I might well have given this 5 stars. As it is, I give it a good stars and strongly recommend it to all but the very easily offended. It is rated 12A (UK), PG-13 (USA) for sexual content, language and a scene of drug use. The F word isn’t used though there is some fairly strong language. It’s a shame they felt the need to use it, but mostly it was to highlight the class divide between the haves and have nots, and in this context it does work. Despite my dislike of obscenities, on the whole I felt that the humour and emotional power of the film overcame its shortcomings very well for the most part.

Official website: http://www.starterfor10.com/main.php

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James McAvoy has also starred in:

Penelope
Atonement
Becoming Jane

Benedict Cumberbatch was also in Atonement, and featured in the excellent Amazing Grace


Recommended: Yes