Starter for 10

Picturehouse Entertainment | Release Date: February 23, 2007

7.3	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Ratings

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DWillyMar 2, 2007

Good God this is a bad movie. Not just bad, student film bad... and not just student film bad, English student film bad with its attendant whimsy and narrowness and embarassed-at-its-leering sexual stiffness. For all the exagerated critical Good God this is a bad movie. Not just bad, student film bad... and not just student film bad, English student film bad with its attendant whimsy and narrowness and embarassed-at-its-leering sexual stiffness. For all the exagerated critical numbers, there was no one in the theater when I entered and there was no one in the theater when the credits rolled.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

JayHAug 30, 2009

What makes this film work is the rich characterizations, great acting, a believable screenplay and thoughtful direction. The score is a great asset to the film, good use of songs. It's entertaining, touching and has a great pace.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

TeriZ.Sep 20, 2007

This is a gem of a movie. James McAvoy is amazing!

0 of 0 users found this helpful

GregoryL.Jul 14, 2007

Definitely.... I read the book 2 years ago and just discovered that it had a movie made... the movie helped a lot with some of the problems i had been having with my gf and my best friend! Brian is particularly inspiring, and Alice was Definitely.... I read the book 2 years ago and just discovered that it had a movie made... the movie helped a lot with some of the problems i had been having with my gf and my best friend! Brian is particularly inspiring, and Alice was charmingly beautiful... I'd say that Alice would have been good with Brian... Rebecca surprised me at the end, as the book didn't mention their reunion.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

DawdlingPoetNov 25, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This movie paints a pretty realistic seeming though rather sentimental picture of one young mans time at University - his relationships as well as his attempts to fit in and appear on University Challenge. It certainly captures the 1980s quite well, with the soundtrack, dialog and different posters and props present, as well as the clothing featured etc. all being very much of the time (or to me it seemed genuine of the time anyway).

Brian comes across as quite naive but he's also quite relatable I think - most people can relate to the idea of leaving home to start University feeling a bit vulnerable and having to work to make a name for themselves. This movie also benefits from a good cast, with James McEvoy portraying Brian, Dominic Cooper as Brians old schoolmate Spencer, Catherine Tate as Brians mother and Benedict Cumberbatch (who plays the lead role in BBCs latest Sherlock Holmes drama series) playing Patrick, who is the University's team leader as it were - he certainly comes across as quite upper class, while Spencer is your typical working class guy trying to dodge the system. James Corden also makes an appearance as a bit of a layabout seen in a few scenes (with long hair, believe it or not).

The movie is quite watchable, the characters all have their own stories which are fairly well developed, with the main character Brian being quite likeable - it is quite sentimental so it won't appeal to or be liked by everyone but its an easy enough watch, it may seem as much as slightly bland to some but I felt pretty engaged with the story and the characters, I didn't find myself checking my watch which is one of the most telling signs of a bad movie, so it could definitely be worse. Indeed, there are one or two plot twists which surprised me and kept me watching. Also worth mentioning is that its certainly not an overly long movie at only just over an hour and a half - plus I don't remember noticing a lag in the middle (half way through) as some, or even nowadays most, other movies have either - there's always something going on, the characters are fairly engaging and the story develops quite well, with a nice ending I thought, although some critics may find it a little cheesy but then it is meant to be a rather sentimental movie I think, so in a way it makes sense. The movie has one or two political slants through the characters but its not very preachy as such, more a reflection of one or two of the social issues that date from the time its set in (the mid 1980s).

There's not much else that can be said about this movie without giving much away, I think. There are one or two scenes involving mild violence but nothing graphic, indeed the movie carries a 12a certificate, due mainly to mild sexual content (more implied than anything else to be honest) and the ocassional use of strong language. There is also one scene involving drug use, so this may affect your decision as to whether or not to watch this with younger viewers but I wouldn't say its likely to offend many people at all really.

Yes, I'm happy to recommend this movie. Its perhaps not groundbreaking but then I didn't expect it to be - the script/story is decent with interesting characters and a good cast, which is the basis for a good movie.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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