September 4, 2007

Starter For 10: Rom-Com Brit-Style, Done Right

10

Reviewer: James Van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****

Whatever you do, don't let Starter for 10 pass you by. Quickly in and out of theaters, this British romantic comedy set in the mid-1980s is a fine example of a small movie that gets almost every aspect right -- story, themes, characters, music, writing, direction and performances -- while rarely pushing too hard or missing a beat.

Directed by Tom Vaughan (whose resume is mostly in television), the film stars James McAvoy (Last King of Scotland; Chronicles of Narnia) alongside relative newcomers Alice Eve (so good in the unfairly neglected Big Nothing), fast-rising Rebecca Hall (daughter of famed UK theatre director Peter Hall), a real standout here, and Dominic Cooper (the hunk of The History Boys). Adapted from his own novel by David Nicholls (whose new film And When Did You Last See Your Father is getting early raves), Starter for Ten effortlessly weaves a coming of age tale in a college-level quiz show setting. University Challenge is the real life quiz that will surely cause more fits of nostalgia in Brits than in Yanks, but themes of honor, politics and - of course - love are certainly universal.

My only real quibble is the main character's mom (played perfectly well by Catherine Tate), who appears to go from a sweet, nurturing figure to bawdy sitcom type in the course of two scenes. But even this is smoothed out nicely by film's end, so perhaps something was lost on the editing floor. Otherwise, Starter for 10 (the title comes from a Brit quiz-show term) is smart, smooth, fast and believable. And if you've seen many romantic comedies of late, you'll realize that, with this particular genre, the combination is a winning--and rare--one.

Posted by cphillips at September 4, 2007 1:32 PM
Comments

I like this movie, it was not given much advertisment and i think it hurt the movie


Posted by: Free movie guy at October 1, 2007 3:01 AM