Brian Jackson (James McAvoy) is a first-year student at Bristol University in 1985. Obsessed with the TV show University Challenge, he joins the university's quiz team in hopes that he can finally achieve his dream of appearing on the show.
While Brian may have the knowledge to hold his own on the quiz team, he is a bit lost on campus. While he pines for Alice (Alice Eve), his teammate, he ignores his friends back home and the world-weary Rebecca (Rebecca Hall), a fellow student who becomes Brian's reluctant fount of wisdom.
Will Brian get onto University Challenge? Or will he learn how to grow up?
This review will contain some spoilers.
This movie is special. I remember reading Empire magazine's review when it came out, and I watched it at some point the following year.
Starter for 10 came out just before I started university, and I really plugged into Brian's headspace through the story - going to a new place, meeting new people; learning new things...
I have not watched the movie in a long time, and I had kinda forgotten about it until I watched The Gift. I remembered Rebecca Hall was in it, and I went back to have a re-watch.
One reason I am surprised the movie does not come up more is the cast: James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dominic Cooper, James Corden. Even the actor who played Tarkin in Rogue One, Guy Henry, is in it!
Some movies I liked from that time have not aged well but Starter for 10 still works. I am surprised that this movie does not pop up more as a cult classic.
The script is really solid, with well-drawn characters and an empathy for their faults.
Alice Eve's character could have been the familiar hot girl who our hero falls for, but the way she is written, and the way Eve plays her, feels more real. She is self-absorbed and a little manipulative, but she is nice. Niceness is a fairly easy and superficial quality to have, and that element of her character is part of the reason the movie works: she is self-obsessed rather than an antagonist, but so is Brian. Ultimately she just has different priorities to our protagonist. He is experiencing an intense crush, which has papered over the differences between them.
In some ways, Starter for 10 reminded me of Edge of Seventeen. Like the central character in that movie, Brian makes a series of mistakes, culminating in one error that he then has to deal with for the rest of the movie.
That final dip is the reason I love this movie - ultimately it is about the importance of failure in learning to grow up. It takes Brian a long time to recognise and break away from his infatuation with Alice.
I also like that he fails at his goal to win University Challenge.
Starter for 10 is not afraid to go dark. I think that is why the 80s setting is also important. Brian is shielded from the world, and he is forced to confront the realities of Thatcher's Britain on a personal level, with his friend Spencer (Cooper).
McAvoy is an underrated actor. The success of the X-Men movies have given a false impression that he is a familiar name, but I think he is more versatile and singular than those movies allow him to show. Brian Jackson is not a bad person. He is just young and has the singular vision and self-absorption that comes with it. McAvoy leans into Jackson's sincerity,
In a role that could be a cliche (the 'smart friend who turns into the protagonists real romantic partner), Rebecca Hall is sparky, funny and seems to be completely aware of how nonsensical Brian is. This character could have been an obvious plot device (like Elisabeth Reaser in Liberal Arts), but Rebecca (the character - why do the main female characters share the same names as the actresses?) is so well-fleshed out and the way their relationship builds feels so natural that their final coming together feels earned.
Starter for 10 is a terrific romantic comedy and I hope the reputation of its cast brings it back onto the broader public's radar. It is a better Christmas movie than Love Actually!
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