Film Review: Starter for 10

• Name: Starter for 10
• Released: 10th November 2006
• Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance
• Duration: 92 mins
• Director: Tom Vaughan
• Writer: David Nicholls
• Stars: James McAvoy, Catherine Tate, James Corden, Dominic Cooper

 

 My Review:

 

What I love about this film is the way that is cleverly cast; James McAvoy is really convincing and I think that the dorky style suits him in a way! Alice Eve is also cast well as the sweet, unexpected 'villain', if you like. Catherine Tate, again, was cast very well and I take my hat off to her for very convincingly pulling off the role of the mother of someone who's only 11 years younger than her! Benedict Cumberbatch also deserves some major, major credit - he wasn't so well known when the film was released but boy, he did a fantastic job. Although his character was the comedic element, he seemed totally natural which made it all the more funnier.

 

However, having said that, I dislike the way that James Corden was cast, I completely disagree with the part that he was given. The thing with James Corden is you either give him quite a big part for him to be really able to express himself, or, you don't cast him at all.

 

Aside from the casting, I thought that they got the setting spot-on for the university.

 

Also, the plot wasn't fantastic, if I'm being brutally honest. It didn't really go anywhere. The only thing that had changed was that, essentially, he'd got a girlfriend. End of story.

 

One last thing, the last scene with James McAvoy and Rebecca Hall is not romantic, in my opinion at all! They're sat right by a protest, on a wall, sat about a mile apart, kissing. Not to mention the kissing looks very, very fake. It's almost like they're being forced to kiss, which, even if they were in real life, shouldn't be portrayed in the film.

 

All-in-all, this film was alright, nothing overly special but if you have the chance to see it, it could give you some insight to the actors attributes and limits as well as giving you the odd chuckle here and there.

 

 

Overall Rating: 3.9/5

 

 

Many Thanks to IMDb.com