Director Tom Vaughn’s mid-‘80s coming-of-age comedy follows Brian Jackson (James McAvoy – “The Last King of Scotland”) from his modest home in the seaside town of Essex, to Bristol University where Brian’s mastery of general knowledge earns him a substitute spot on the college debate team.
When he isn’t putting his foot in his mouth with members of the opposite sex, Brian lives for the long-running television quiz show University Challenge where he hopes to lead his team to victory.
Knowledge counts.
All-around sturdy performances, from a cast that includes Dominic Cooper and Benedict Cumberbatch, gel well with Vaughn’s cherry-picked nostalgic soundtrack that includes tracks from the Buzzcocks, The Cure, and The Smiths.
For as lighthearted as “Starter For 10” seems on the outside, there is plenty of subtle interpretation about how radically social freedoms have changed since the ‘80s.
Rated PG-13. 96 mins.
