Starter for 10 |  | Director: Tom Vaughan
Actors: James McAvoy, Rebecca Hall, Alice Eve, Mark Gatiss, Robert Cawsey
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $3.81
as of 2/9/2010 19:22 EST details
You Save: $6.17 (62%)
New (33) Used (15) from $3.40
Seller: inetvideo
Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 31426
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 92 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 94219
UPC: 026359421921
EAN: 0026359421921
ASIN: B00005JPOH
Theatrical Release Date: March 9, 2007
Release Date: July 31, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | From the producers of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, comes a rollicking bittersweet comedy about British university life in the '80s. James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland) stars as Brian, a working student from Essex navigating his first year at Bristol University with a ragtag group of new friends. Brian's life-long dream is to join the team for the British quiz show University Challenge.and to pu |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Compared to James McAvoy's previous picture, The Last King of Scotland, this British comedy may seem trivial, but trivia has its pleasures. Produced by Tom Hanks and adapted by David Nicholls from his 2003 novel, Starter for Ten doesn't tackle major historical events, but it also takes place in the past. After a prologue establishing his childhood in provincial Essex, Brian (McAvoy) takes off for Bristol University in 1985 and immediately sets his sights on the campus quiz team. If he makes the cut, he'll get to compete on University Challenge, a show he used to watch the show with his late father, who encouraged his son's quest for knowledge. For all his book smarts, though, Brian is rather naïve about the ways of the world, unlike his friend Spencer (Dominic Cooper, The History Boys), who remains in town. As Brian and his teammates prepare for the competition, he falls for co-eds Alice (Alice Eve) and Rebecca (Rebecca Hall, The Prestige), struggles to repair his fraying friendship with Spencer, and confronts feelings of betrayal over his mother's new boyfriend. For the most part, Starter for Ten explores standard-issue college concerns, but with abundant wit, whimsy, and a soundtrack stuffed with Thatcher-era favorites, like the Smiths and New Order. While the resolution to Brian's romantic dilemma hardly comes as a surprise, the climactic quiz show is a nail-biter. Mostly, the film is a fine showcase for the multi-talented McAvoy, who confirms that he can handle light comedy as gracefully as dark drama. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Product Description
From the producers of My Big Fat Greek Wedding comes a rollicking bittersweet comedy about British university life in the '80s. James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland) stars as Brian a working class student from Essex navigating his first year at Bristol University with a ragtag group of new friends. Brian's life-long dream is to join the team for the British quiz show University Challenge...and to pull Alice the fittest girl on the team. Set against the backdrop of Thatcher-era Britain defined by the music of New Order The Cure and The Smiths Starter for 10 is the UK's long-awaited heartwarning and hilarious answer to the John Hughes films of the '80s.Running Time: 96 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 026359421921 Manufacturer No: 94219
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 27
A charming, intelligent comedy about growing up August 13, 2007
Dafydd Mac an Leigh (Waltham, MA USA)
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
From a very young age, Brian Jackson has crammed his mind with facts and knowledge, and now he's off to university for more. But the most important lesson he has to learn is that knowledge and wisdom are not the same thing.
Brian quickly makes a strong impression in academia, especially when he gets onto the school team for University Challenge, the wildly popular quiz show he grew up watching with his father. But the rest of life isn't so easy: Brian falls head-over-heels for his beautiful but self-centered teammate Alice, who leads him on despite having no real interest in intimacy; his mother, now ten years widowed, has found a new lover; he just can't sort out his feelings for Rebecca, a student activist with more than a passing interest in him; his blue-collar mates from home are starting to regard him as a class traitor; and any time he tries to be clever or impulsive, it always goes awry.
James McAvoy, who has already won great critical acclaim for his skills in dramatic roles, shows that he is equally adept in comedy, giving Brian an aw-shucks charm that keeps him loveable despite his penchant for saying exactly the wrong thing. Among the rest of the cast, the two greatest standouts are Benedict Cumberbatch, who steals his every scene as the hilariously snobbish team captain, and the extraordinarily talented Rebecca Hall, who plays Rebecca with such spirit and beauty that you can't help rooting for Brian to come around and realize that she's the one for him. Veteran thespians Charles Dance and Lindsay Duncan have a brilliant cameo as Alice's parents, and Mark Gatiss makes a convicing Bamber Gascoigne (the long-time host of University Challenge, and a real-life icon of British TV).
The script is witty, and gives new twists to the traditional conventions of romantic comedy. The climax on the set of University Challenge, and an earlier scene involving a misguided reference to The Graduate, are particularly well done. I can't help feeling, though, that the movie missed a few good opportunities as well. I understand the need to streamline the story, but I can't help feeling that they streamlined too much: fun characters disappear not long after they're introduced, certain aspects of Brian's schoolyear are mentioned when they should have been shown, and so on.
All the same, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and highly recommend it for any fans of romantic comedy, British film, or movies with cool '80s soundtracks.
Nice little movie! James McAvoy's GREAT! August 28, 2007
T. G. Baudouin (Mexico City, D.F. Mexico)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I found this movie quite charming -much to do with the fact that James McAvoy is the central figure in it...I truly think we'll find him in a lot of good films in the future, which is GREAT!-.
The movie's the story of a boy who struggles to find himself while growing up -falling in love and making mistakes on a university TV quiz show are trascendantal-
You can get easily related to it...even more if you have had interest in accumulating a lot of useless -yet fascinating- data in your brain to feel more intellectual or to guarantee yourself a "special" place in this world. Simple,sweet, funny and as I said before...charming!
 kooky, romantic comedy November 20, 2007
WV Born (Charlotte, NC)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
James McAvoy has that affable quality which makes the viewer like him even when he is being a bit of a prat. That is true throughout this DVD. The storyline is a little "low key," as the adaptation of the book to the screen was not as effective as it could be, but the performances are strong, and the viewer will not feel "cheated" when he finishes watching the film.
 Disappointed June 1, 2008
EBrt (USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I love James McAvoy, but I wish I could say this was a great movie. Although there were a few humorous scenes, the movie was, overall, disappointing. McAvoy did play the character well, but the storyline was my biggest issue. Watching this move made me feel more awkward and uncomfortable than I have in my entire life.
The book was great, the movie was good October 5, 2007
K. Brooks (LaLa Land, CA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Those of you who read the book may be a bit disappointed by its screen adaptation, an all to common occurrence when a book becomes a film.
Placing that comment aside and reviewing this film without use of a pretense, Starter for 10 is a cute, all be it a bit campy, British comedy about the bumps and hiccups brought by coming of age, finding ones future, and facing ones past. James McAvoy does a brilliant job of making his character lovably awkward. The subtle comedy, satirical character types and romantic interfaces make this a must see for any University Challenge fan (or anyone looking for a good laugh).
1 star off only because the book was better.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 27
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