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Poster for Starter for 10

Starter for 10

2006 · 1h 32m · PG-13 Comedy, Drama, Romance
Directed by Tom Vaughan

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Overview

In 1985, against the backdrop of Thatcherism, Brian Jackson enrolls in the University of Bristol, a scholarship boy from seaside Essex with a love of knowledge for its own sake and a childhood spent watching University Challenge, a college quiz show. At Bristol he tries out for the Challenge team and falls under the spell of Alice, a lovely blond with an extensive sexual past.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
90%
Tomatometer
Fresh

Conventional, slight, but charming.

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Rotten

There's nothing here we haven't seen done better before.

David Fear, Time Out New York
Fresh

This is expertly crafted entertainment that follows all the beats of a traditional romantic comedy, but it's done with such sincerity that it's difficult to begrudge the odd descent into cliche.

Chris Tilly, Time Out
Fresh

[The film] bears many of the hallmarks of teen comedies, but also boasts virtues not generally associated with the genre, such as wit, class consciousness, multidimensional characters, and a penetrating intelligence.

Nathan Rabin, AV Club
Fresh

Some nice performances and modest laughs highlight this amiable British comedy about a young man who goes off to Bristol University in the mid-'80s and does what young people naturally do when they go to college.

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle

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