Fresh
Conventional, slight, but charming.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
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Starter for 10
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
- Tom Vaughan Director
- James McAvoy as Brian Jackson
- Alice Eve as Alice Harbinson
- Rebecca Hall as Rebecca Epstein
- Catherine Tate as Julie Jackson
- Dominic Cooper as Spencer
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Patrick Watts
- James Corden as Tone
- Mark Gatiss as Bamber Gascoigne
- Guy Henry as Dr. Morrison
- John Henshaw as Des
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
90%
Tomatometer
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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