The “University Challenge” Team…

Films depicting student and university life have taken the low road recently, and this latest English sleeper film, Starter for Ten, is refreshingly unfratty, leaving all vulgarities out of the picture. It implements that famous British dry sense of comedy that never resorts to a slapstick farce, but rather an observant coming of age tale that induces a lingering smirk rather than any laugh out loud moments.

Omnipresent James McAvoy stars as Brian, a working class general knowledge genius from Essex, who enrols at Bristol University. His working class roots do not stop him from trying to achieve more than the members of his family and his friends, who are puzzled by his ambition. His illusions of grandeur are swiftly put to rest when he realises that the class divide that is very much present in the outside world is just as present at Bristol.

The safest way to ensure a harmless journey through the shark infested waters of school life is to find yourself a “club” or “clique” to belong to, and that is exactly what Brian attempts to do when he signs up to take part in the non-fictitious “University Challenge.” The competition is a televised general knowledge quiz show which teams from various universities take part in that has been running for several decades. Brian has been a fan of the show since he was a young boy and it is a part of his fondest memory of his father.

The quizmaster on the game show says the lines “Starter for Ten” just before he asks the first question, and if the “starter” gets the question correct the team automatically gets 10 points and is put in the lead. That is where the films title comes from and what Brian initially believes the ultimate quest to be.

Joining the team proves to be more of a trouble than the fulfilment of a dream for a few reasons, one of them being his meeting of Alice (Alice Eve), a gorgeous wealthy blonde whom he immediately falls in love with and the other being his meeting of the team leader Patrick (Benedict Cumberbatch), a conservative snob. Alice is everything Brian wants, but when he meets Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) he realizes she is whom he needs. Rebecca is a radical liberal-type who will fight for the support of just about any worthy cause, and has a sense of wit and worldly sensibility similar to Brian’s own.

As well as the unexpected love life pressures Brian has to face, he has to prove his intelligence repeatedly to ensure he stays on the team, something that is difficult when his focus broadens and he realises that knowledge is not everything, it is what one makes of it that counts.

Well-drawn out characters performed by a terrific cast put his film head and shoulders above recent romantic comedies, and even more than recent teenage comedies. James McAvoy gives a performance that is astute and insightful and the entire film is structured around his characters vicissitudes, conquests and intentions and the inevitable life lessons he learns on the way. Class-consciousness is not something one expects from a film of this genre, never mind the fact that it delivers its arguments perfectly and gets all its answers through adequate exploration, but still fast enough to remain sharp.

David Nicholls’ novel could not have been adapted any better and it is such a pleasure to watch a comedic film about teenagers that focuses on the idea that school and growing up might actually involve a greater understanding of ones self as well as the world around us as a whole, and not only the quest for the quick highs, those being alcohol, drugs, sexual infatuations and superficial hang-ups.

Fatac Rating: ***

Starter for Ten. Directed by Tom Vaughan. Written by David Nicholls. Starring: James McAvoy, Dominic Cooper, Catherine Tate, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve. Running Time: 92 minutes. Age Restriction: PG 13. Rating out of five stars. [C]