Starter for 10 (2006)

Set in 1985, working-class student Brian Jackson (McAvoy) navigates his first year at Bristol University.

Director:

Tom Vaughan

Writers:

David Nicholls (novel), David Nicholls (screenplay)

Stars:

Joseph Friend, James McAvoy, Rebecca Hall

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joseph Friend	...	Young Brian
James Gaddas	...	Martin Jackson
Catherine Tate	...	Julie Jackson
Mark Gatiss	...	Bamber Gascoigne
Robert Cawsey	...	University Challenge Competitor
Rasmus Hardiker	...	University Challenge Competitor
Guy Henry	...	Dr. Morrison
James McAvoy	...	Brian Jackson
James Corden	...	Tone
Dominic Cooper	...	Spencer
Simon Woods	...	Josh
Sule Rimi	...	Marcus
Joe Van Moyland	...	Hippy at the Party
Rebecca Hall	...	Rebecca Epstein
Benedict Cumberbatch	...	Patrick Watts

Storyline

In 1985, against the backdrop of Thatcherism, Brian Jackson enrolls in the University of Bristol, a scholarship boy from seaside Essex with a love of knowledge for its own sake and a childhood spent watching "University Challenge," a college quiz show. At Bristol he tries out for the Challenge team and falls under the spell of Alice, a lovely blond with an extensive sexual past. He's smitten, and he carelessly manages to hurt the feelings of Rebecca Epstein, a friend whose politics and wit he admires. The Challenge finale is coming up; maybe Brian can redeem himself and still avoid being a prat.

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Plot Keywords:

university | student | politics | love | thatcherism | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and a scene of drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Picturehouse

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 March 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

A nagy kvízválasztó

Filming Locations:

BBC Television Centre, Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$37,141 (USA) (23 February 2007)

Gross:

$210,128 (USA) (23 March 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Films, HBO Films, Neal Street Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Co-stars Alice Eve and Benedict Cumberbatch would later work together again in the sequel film Star Trek Into Darkness.

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Goofs

The producers of this film may have dug a pit for themselves by choosing to set it in 1985. The 1985 competition (which was not broadcast for a year) was a brief return for the series after a short hiatus. Granada had decided to pep it up by modifying the format. In round 1 teams played each other over two programs, the first of which comprised of a "baton relay". Competitors were pitched one-against-one and had to answer two questions correctly before passing the baton on to the team-mate to the left. None of this was reflected in the film. In addition, the set was completely redesigned in red and black, unlike the more recognizable scheme employed in the film.

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Quotes

Brian Jackson: Got an announcement to make. I'm gonna be on University Challenge.
Julie Jackson: What a relief. I thought you were gonna say you were gay.

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Connections

Featured in HBO First Look: Starter for 10 (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Blue Monday"
Performed by New Order
Written by Gillian Gilbert, Eric Hague, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris,
Bernard Sumner
Published by WB Music Corp.
Courtesy of London-Sire Records Ltd.
By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

Entertaining no-brainer

Starter For Ten (three stars)

Director Tom Vaughan Writer David Nicholls Stars Ian Bonar, Alice Eve, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Tate Certificate 12A Running time 96 minutes Country UK / USA Year 2006

Don't let the pathetically weak opening scene - a flashback of a university applicant as a boy, watching University Challenge and guessing the answers - put you off. Starter For Ten actually manages to get better. Although nominally about qualifying to be on the TV famous game show, the film is really a light-hearted coming-of-age drama set in the 80s. It has convincing performances and a lovingly recreated period of Thatcher Britain, when corduroy was cool and Kate Bush was for intellectuals.

Working class Brian was not born clever - he has to work at it. Gaining entry to a posh university, he meanders through undergraduate days with a classic dilemma: do you fall in love with the intellectually attractive brunette or the blonde goddess? Karl Marx, Freud and John Lennon, like smoking hash and learning how to do blowbacks, are all part of the social landscape of what is trendy and what isn't. Half way in, the film subject matter allows plenty of social commentary on the irksome British class divisions that penetrate romance, friendship and the University Challenge team.

Versatile Catherine Tate puts in an amiable performance as Brian's ever supportive and cooing mother: she's having an affair with the ice-cream van man ("you can hear him coming"). This enjoyable no-brainer of a movie is aided and abetted by a blistering 80s soundtrack with bands such as The Cure, Psychedelic Furs, Buzzcocks, Yazoo, The Smiths, Tears for Fears, The Undertones - and Kate Bush.

Starter for Ten is not searing drama, but it does make a pleasant and worthwhile trip down nostalgia lane. The characters are ones we can love and care about and the movie mostly avoids predictability and cheese. If "the most important questions in life are the ones we already know the answer to," and are not exactly rocket science, the subject matter of Starter For Ten is a welcome and unpretentious antidote to the plethora of similar American teen comedies. If you like the music, it's worth going for that alone.