Never heard of Starter for 10? I’m not surprised, as it’s a British film from a couple years ago which is only starting to get exposure due to the emergence as Hollywood A-Listers of two of its stars: James McAvoy and Alice Eve.
**adsense_4block** Never heard of James McAvoy? You’d likely know him from Wanted (the Angelina Jolie movie about physics-bending assassins)… or maybe Atonement (with Keira Knightley – if someone made you watch it, since it wasn’t a GUY movie at all). You’ll want to know who James McAvoy is, if you don’t already, because he’s playing the role of young Charles Xavier – Professor X – in the upcoming prequel X-Men: First Class.
If you’ve never heard of Alice Eve, we’re not sure what’s wrong with you. She’s one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood under the age of 30, and she was the much drooled-over lead actress in She’s Out Of My League. (We hear she’s also in Sex & The City 2, but who cares about that? Only the guys who get dragged to see it by their significant other). Though there’s at least one article here on GuysNation about Alice Eve already (and one currently in “draft” form), I’ll give you a reason why you’re going to want to tune in to Starter for 10:
Aside from just a hot actress (who is not only nice to look at, but who is also fairly talented as well), the script on Starter For 10 is pretty decent as well, and it’s well acted.
Here’s the basics: a young guy (McAvoy) goes off to college and in the process of trying to find out where he fits in, he comes across the college quiz bowl team which is looking to compete to get a spot on a televised version of the quiz bowl which McAvoy’s character used to watch with his father before an untimely death left him with only a single parent. Also on the team is Alice Eve’s character, who reciprocates the romantic feelings for McAvoy’s character – at least to some extent. McAvoy’s character also has to deal with his friends from back home who are significantly less intelligent, and a lady friend who tries to get McAvoy to see the world in a different way.
It was a pleasant experience watching this film, admittedly in part because I was on a quiz bowl team in high school so I could relate to that part of it. If I saw this movie on sale at a discount (less than $5) I’d probably pick it up. It could be worth another watch or two. There’s nothing extremely special about it, though, and I’d be surprised if it fits into my Top 100 after I do a little analysis to see where it falls.
Looking for something different than Hollywood’s offerings, or just want to see more of Alice Eve? Starter For 10 is not a wasted evening at all.
