Starter for 10 (film)

Starter for 10
US release poster
Directed by	Tom Vaughan
Produced by	Tom Hanks
Written by	David Nicholls
Starring	James McAvoy Alice Eve Rebecca Hall Dominic Cooper
Music by	Blake Neely
Cinematography	Ashley Rowe
Editing by	Heather Persons
Studio	Playtone HBO Films BBC Films
Distributed by	Picturehouse Icon Film Distribution
Release date(s)	November 10, 2006 (UK) February 23, 2007 (US)
Running time	92 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$8,287,000
Box office	$1,736,394

Starter for 10 is a British/American comedy-drama film directed by Tom Vaughan from a screenplay by David Nicholls, adapted from his own novel Starter for Ten. The film stars James McAvoy as Brian Jackson, a university student who wins a place on a University Challenge quiz team. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2006, and was released in the UK and Ireland on November 10, 2006, and in Canada and the US on February 23, 2007.

Plot

A period comedy set in 1985, the story chronicles the adventures of Brian Jackson (James McAvoy), a student in his first year at Bristol University. A somewhat geeky gifted accumulator of knowledge, Brian has been a fan since childhood of University Challenge. That TV show's famous catchphrase—"Your starter for 10"—gives the film its title. Soon after arriving at university, he seizes upon the opportunity to join Bristol's University Challenge team. He promptly falls for his glamorous team mate Alice (Alice Eve), though he may be more compatible with a Jewish counterculturalist friend, Rebecca (Rebecca Hall). Additionally, Brian finds himself caught between his new life, amongst the academic university set, and his old, with his working-class family and friends in the seaside town of Southend-on-Sea, Essex.

Cast

Brian's working-class hometown friends are played by Dominic Cooper and James Corden. The two actors starred as working-class schoolmates in both the stage and film versions of The History Boys.

• James McAvoy as Brian Jackson
• Dominic Cooper as Spencer
• Simon Woods as Josh
• Catherine Tate as Julie Jackson
• Elaine Tan as Lucy Chang
• Alice Eve as Alice Harbinson
• Rebecca Hall as Rebecca Epstein
• Charles Dance as Michael Harbinson
• Lindsay Duncan as Rose Harbinson
• Benedict Cumberbatch as Patrick Watts
• Mark Gatiss as Bamber Gascoigne
• James Gaddas as Brian's father
• John Henshaw as Des

Production

Despite being set at Bristol University, the main quad and Gustave Tuck lecture theatre of University College London were used as sets. The University of Bristol Students Union building is in fact the university's School of Chemistry. The Granada TV studios, are actually at the back of BBC Television Centre: the corridor (actually leading to the BBC Multi Storey Car Park) was transformed for a day for the filming in 2005 with the addition of a GTV logo and pictures of past stars. The buildings at the end where a demonstration was held in which Brian tells Rebecca how much he likes her is the Queen Mary Court and King William Court at the University of Greenwich. Brian's home is shown as a quaint seaside cottage, supposedly located in Westcliff-on-Sea. These scenes were actually filmed in the small village of Jaywick, near Clacton-on-Sea, with the real Westcliff bearing little resemblance to its onscreen depiction. Clacton Pier was used for the scenes set on the pier at Southend-on-Sea.

Reception

The film got very positive reviews; it has a 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 75 reviews.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features music from Kate Bush, The Cure, The Psychedelic Furs, Buzzcocks, Yazoo, Motörhead, The Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Undertones, Tears for Fears, The Style Council and others. The song "Ace of Spades", which appears at the beginning of the film, was performed by Motörhead in the "Bambi" episode of The Young Ones that included the University Challenge spoof.

External links

• Starter for 10 at the Internet Movie Database
• Starter for 10 at AllRovi
• Starter For 10 at Rotten Tomatoes