Trama

Set in 1985, working-class student Brian Jackson (McAvoy) navigates his first year at Bristol University.

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. He's smitten, and he carelessly manages to hurt the feelings of Rebecca Epstein, a friend whose politics and wit he admires. The Challenge finale is coming up; maybe Brian can redeem himself and still avoid being a prat.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>

A period comedy set in 1985, the story chronicles the misadventures of Brian Jackson (James McAvoy), a student in his first year at Bristol University. A somewhat obsessive collector of general knowledge, Brian has been a fan since childhood of University Challenge. That TV show's famous catchphrase"Your starter for 10"gives the film its title. Upon arriving at university, he seizes upon the opportunity to join Bristol's University Challenge team. He promptly falls for his glamorous teammate Alice (Alice Eve), though he may have more in common with a counterculturalist chum, Rebecca (Rebecca Hall). Additionally, Brian finds himself caught between his new life, amongst the posh university set, and his old, with his working-class family and friends in the seaside town of Southend, Essex.