Starter for 10: Review

Romantic comedies are a dime a dozen, sugary confections that often times say little about human nature or the society at large. Too often are they so infatuated with telling a simple, tired love story that they forget the potential power of film. This is not to suggest that a romantic comedy is required to be heavy handed and deal with life and death situation. Many are successful at satirizing aspects of society (Jerry Maguire, It Happened One Night) while remaining comical and lighthearted. Unfortunately for any viewers of Starter for 10, the film does almost nothing worthwhile, instead relying too often on tired and uninspired slapstick for its major laughs.

For a film with some major clout behind it (Tom Hanks and Sam Mendes are both producers), one would think that this might have felt like more than an uninspired TV movie. Unfortunately, it doesn't never leaving the constraints of the silver screen's smaller cousin behind. Rather, Starter for 10 is painfully mediocre all around with it's script attempting to say something regarding class in 1980's Britain but never having the guts to really say something. It frequently touches on just the fringes of the subject, afraid to jump full on into the subject. This would have been excusable if the characters were absorbing or the relationships depicted had any life behind them. Once again, unfortunately, they don't. David Nicholls' script (based on his own novel) rarely displays the intelligence or sharp wit to make for a entertaining romantic comedy, choosing to wallow in half baked relationships and characters.

The story, of a lower middle class boy Brian Jackson (played ably by James McAvoy in a performance that reminds me of a younger Ewan McGregor) who is a whiz at trivia but not girls, feels lifeless. It isn't bad, per say, just very plain. He joins the University Quiz Team and falls in love his teammate Alice (Alice Eve), one who never really returns the feelings, but rather just plays with poor Brian's heart. Another classmate Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) enters the picture to complicate Brian's feelings. There is no memorable dialogue, each exchange is as bland as the last, never giving their characters any personality or traits. The filmmakers here might have felt clever for trying to make a stripped down, plain-coated rom com but that shtick never really works either. The whole film just leaves the audience wanting more, not in a good way, but in a way that one never feels that they have received their money's worth. With BBC Films and Playtone as the production companies, there is money to spend; they just chose not to do it here.

The film's one redeeming and notable quality is its superior soundtrack, albeit misused at times. However, it is difficult to argue with the actual quality of the songs on display, all of which are considered classics of 80's British pop. For this writer, the late appearance of The Smiths' "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" warranted a smile, as it is one of Morrissey/Marr great concoction. That smile quickly soured as it dawned on me at the misuse of the song, which was more or less the story of the film. Whenever something enjoyable would happen, it would quickly be crushed by a moment of almost unbearable embarrassment or awkwardness. In fact, the film made me feel more embarrassed to be watching than anything else.

As has been said earlier, Starter for 10 is not a horrible film but it has almost nothing to separate itself from the crowded pack of romantic comedies. It is no wonder that this film was unceremoniously dumped in theatres and quickly moved to DVD. The critical approval is somewhat confusing to this writer. I can't tell whether I really missed something important or others did. McAvoy is the highlight here and despite his inability to keep up with Forrest Whitaker in Last King of Scotland (but really, who could?), seems like he could be a star in the making. For those in desperate need of a new British comedy, Starter for 10 may be a winner but for something going in without that jones, it just seemed, simply, simple.

**