Brian Jackson is a fresh-faced, eager college freshman with a romantic streak almost as fierce as his love of trivia. The film--set in the mid-80s in Bristol, England--opens with working-class Brian (James McAvoy) delivering an impassioned speech to a school admissions board about why he so desperately wants to go to university. Once accepted, he's ecstatic, and after bidding farewell to his scornful friends and nervous mother, he kicks the small-town dirt off his shoes and embarks on his great quest for knowledge.

The reality of college life quickly sets in, as Brian is dragged to campus costume parties by his roommates, then drawn into political marches by the clever and pretty activist Rebecca Epstein (Rebecca Hall). When he manages to score a spot on the University Challenge quiz team, he earns a chance to showcase his vast knowledge of trivia, and to compete on the quiz show he loved when he was a kid. Sweetening the deal is the fact that Alicia Harbinson (Alice Eve), a sexy, seductive drama major, is also on the team. Things really seem to be going Brian's way, as he gets a date with Alice, and even a first kiss, but he quickly begins to take one romantic misstep after another, making for some hilarious but heart-wrenching fumbling. As he struggles through his growing pains, he slowly begins to realize that true knowledge is much more than what can be gleaned from textbooks, and that some things, you simply have to learn the hard way. With a soundtrack full of classic Cure and Smiths tunes, STARTER FOR TEN is sure to make anyone who came of age during the "Me" generation smile (or grimace) with nostalgia.