Main Cast: James McAvoy, Alice Eve, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Tate, Dominic Cooper
Release Year: 2006
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
A working-class English boy who has been fortunate enough to be accepted into a posh private university struggles to realize his lifelong dream while simultaneously winning the heart of the girl he loves in a romantic, bittersweet comedy directed by Tom Vaughan and starring James McAvoy, Rebecca Hall, and Charles Dance. The time is the mid-'80s, and the University Challenge phenomenon is sweeping through England. Despite his underprivileged background, Essex boy Brian Jackson (McAvoy) knows that he has what it takes to make it to the finals on one of the most popular programs in all of England. Upon being accepted into Bristol, the ambitious young student soon tries out for the school's University Challenge team, and set the gears of his ultimate fantasy into motion. Effectively estranged from his single-parent mother (Catherine Tate) just for being accepted into the school, Brian soon gets set to cross yet another class line when he becomes smitten with his beautiful University Challenge teammate and attempts to woo her into his arms her with his formidable advanced general knowledge skills. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Nick Gottschalk - Art Director, Ian Bailie - Supervising Art Director, Nina Gold - Casting, Mary Richards - Co-producer, Charlotte Morris - Costume Designer, Guy Heeley - First Assistant Director, Tom Vaughan - Director, Heather Persons - Editor, Jon Harris - Editor, Steven Shareshian - Executive Producer, Sam Mendes - Executive Producer, Nathalie Marciano - Executive Producer, Michelle Chydzik Sowa - Executive Producer, Blake Neely - Composer (Music Score), Deva Anderson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Delphine Robertson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Sarah Greenwood - Production Designer, Ashley Rowe - Cinematographer, Gary Goetzman - Producer, Tom Hanks - Producer, Pippa Harris - Producer, Tony Dawe - Sound/Sound Designer, Paul Herbert - Stunts Coordinator, David Nicholls - Screenwriter, Mark Freund - Visual Effects Supervisor, Cameron Frankley - Supervising Sound Editor, Kimberly Harris - Supervising Sound Editor, Pacific Title & Art Studio - Visual Effects, Bananarama - Featured Music, The Cure - Featured Music, The Smiths - Featured Music, David Nicholls - Book Author
Starter for 10 is a British/American 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 the US and Canada on February 23, 2007.
A period comedy set in 1985, the story chronicles the misadventures of Brian Jackson (James McAvoy), a student in his first year at Bristol University. A somewhat obsessive collector of general 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. Upon arriving at university, he seizes upon the opportunity to join Bristol's University Challenge team. He promptly falls for his glamorous teammate Alice (Alice Eve), though he may have more in common with a counterculturalist chum, Rebecca (Rebecca Hall). Additionally, Brian finds himself caught between his new life, amongst the posh university set, and his old, with his working-class family and friends in the seaside town of Southend, Essex.
Cast
Brian's working-class hometown mates 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.
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. Claton Pier was used for the scenes set on the pier at Southend-on-Sea.
