I wouldn't rush out to see this movie, but if it happens to come on TV or if you happen to come across it, it's not a bad way to spend an hour and a half. James McAvoy, who is familiar nowadays as the star of "The Last King of Scotland" (no he was not the one playing Idi Amin) and the faun in the first "Narnia" film, does a credible job as a working class bloke who goes to a fancy university and parlays his lifelong interest in trivia into a spot on the academic bowl team.
Along the way he has to struggle with several movie clichés, like having his working class pal from back home break up a party, struggling with classes when life gets hard, dealing with his mother moving on in her life, etc. It's all standard stuff, but done in a light and airy enough way that it passes the time. We see go back and forth between Alice, his gorgeous, smart, and interesting love interest with blonde hair (Alice Eve) and Rebecca, his gorgeous, smart and interesting love interest with brown hair (Rebecca Hall). (An interesting side note is that Alice is played by an actress named Alice and Rebecca is played by an actress named Rebecca.) Some not-bad comedy bits are encountered along the way, but it might have been good to see a bit more of the side characters. Benedict Cumberbatch is terrific but underutilized as the imperious but highly insecure captain of the quiz bowl team, for instance. His character is comically one-dimensional, but in a film like this that's hardly the point. In all, a good but not great film.
Along the way he has to struggle with several movie clichés, like having his working class pal from back home break up a party, struggling with classes when life gets hard, dealing with his mother moving on in her life, etc. It's all standard stuff, but done in a light and airy enough way that it passes the time. We see go back and forth between Alice, his gorgeous, smart, and interesting love interest with blonde hair (Alice Eve) and Rebecca, his gorgeous, smart and interesting love interest with brown hair (Rebecca Hall). (An interesting side note is that Alice is played by an actress named Alice and Rebecca is played by an actress named Rebecca.) Some not-bad comedy bits are encountered along the way, but it might have been good to see a bit more of the side characters. Benedict Cumberbatch is terrific but underutilized as the imperious but highly insecure captain of the quiz bowl team, for instance. His character is comically one-dimensional, but in a film like this that's hardly the point. In all, a good but not great film.