Review: Starter for 10 (2006)

UPDATED

Sunday nights are just perfect for Netflix, they really are. I think I should make it a weekly thing, 8pm, glass on wine, kittens on my lap, and Netflix. I had no idea what I wanted to watch, but I was tired and didn't want anything that would make me think. So I had a flick through the Romantic Comedies section and chose Starter for 10.

I have finally go around to getting Netflix and therefore watching this (only 6 months after the original post but hey ho!).  This was the first thing I headed for on Netflix (after I realised that Gilmore Girls was only on the US version boo hoo!!) as I knew Allie had already done her bit so I could add to it :-)

I'm going to try and actually review this film. I promise you, I'm going to try. But I spent the whole film in shock because I knew every single actor and actress from something else I'd seen. I knew nothing about this film when I started to play it. I knew James McAvoy was in it, his face was the poster! I'm rambling already, so let me try and get to my point.

This is an awesome little British film about a student called Brian, starting his first year at Bristol University. As a child he loved quizzes and would play along whilst watching University Challenge on the TV, and so he tries out for the team at his university...whose team captain just happens to be Benedict Cumberbatch. I think I dropped a biscuit and threw a kitten across the room at that moment! Back on track Allie...back on track...but first!

I really enjoyed this film. It wasn't anything original, and I may have enjoyed spotting the cast more than anything else, but it was enjoyable none the less and it ended how I hoped it would. Being a British film as well I hold it close to my heart. Especially the New Years scene because I don't know anyone who actually knows the words to Auld Lang Syne! I even had to Google 'New Years song' just to find out how to spell that.

This film was entertaining and typically British, my Dad watched University Challenge religiously when I was little so there was a bit of nostalgia thrown in there as well.  James McAvoy was great as always and proved why he has done so well since.  He delivered the comedy with perfect timing and the head-butting scene literally made my spit my tea across the room! 

I did find the story overall quite predictable, but there was odd lines and actions that I just didn't see coming (see head-butting comment above) and the 'meet the parents' scene in the kitchen so I was engaged throughout.  I can't say I liked either of the leading ladies, I have never been a fan of Alice Eve since seeing her 'act' in Star Trek Into Darkness and I actually found Rebecca Hall's character quite irritating.

If you'll forgive my rambles, I have a little trivia for you. Benedict went on after this film to star with 3 other actors/actresses in this film. Sherlock with Mark Gatiss, Parade's End with Rebecca Hall, and Star Trek Into Darkness with Alice Eve!

Don't rush out to see this but if, like me, you have a Sunday evening free, give this a try because it's worth a watch!

That is what I did and I was pleasantly surprised, held my attention (moreso that University Challenge ever did) and loved seeing Cumberbatch and McAvoy before the 'big time' but the ladies let it down for me.