Films I've Seen This Week

Hot on the heels of The History Boys, comes another film set around education in the 1980s. But instead of Alan Bennett's unrealistic portrayal of Yorkshire grammar schools, Starter For Ten (***) takes a realistic look at university life in Bristol.

James McAvoy plays Brian Jackson, a hard-working English literature student who leaves his Motorhead loving, dole-cheating friends behind to start a new life in Bristol protesting, partying and appearing on University Challenge. Whilst there, he learns more than he bargained for when he meets the flirty quiz team-mate Alice and political activist Rebecca.

Starter For Ten, based on John Nicholls debut novel, doesn't provide many belly laughs - its gentle humour more suited to Sunday night TV rather than the big screen. But it has characters you genuinely care about, isn't as pretentious as The History Boys, two of which stars also appear here, and features genuinely good performances from McAvoy, Dominic Cooper as wayward friend Spencer and the ubiquitous Catherine Tate as Brian's protective mother.

The 80s sets, fashion sense and angst-ridden soundtrack also adds to the authenticity, seen missing from similar movies, and overall, it provides an amusing if fairly plotless look at an experience a lot of people can relate to.

Saw 3 (*) adheres to the law of diminishing returns rule. The first was geniunely inventive, original and scary, the second was derivative and contrived, the third is just downright nasty.

The convoluted plot sees Jigsaw, (Lost's Tobin Bell) on his deathbed in a downtown macabre warehouse, masterminding yet another ridiculous life-or-death game with the help of his even more twisted former-victim-turned-sadist Amanda.

Lynn, an overworked and troubled nurse, is kidnapped and fitted with a neck brace which will detonate if Jigsaw dies. Her objective is to keep him alive using makeshift medical tools, until the end of his final twisted game. This game involves a grieving father, Jim, who's been set a series of gruesome dilemmas which he must wrestle with in order to get revenge on the man who knocked down and killed his young son.

The twists in the first film particular are what made the franchise so shocking and unpredictable. But because of this, you're already prepared for the inevitable shocking finale. You can spot the main twist a mile off and the others just make no sense whatsoever.

The violence is also plain gratuitous and nasty. Witnessing an innocent woman exploding or a man having to rip hooks out of every body part in full close up isn't scary or shocking, it's just vile, and leaves you feeling dirty after having watched it. There's bound to be a fourth but it's going to have to rely on more than cheap shocks to come anywhere near redeeming the series.

She's The Man (***) is much lighter thank god but probably just as far-fetched. Like a younger female Mrs Doubtfire, Viola (Amanda Bynes) pretends to be her brother Sebastian in order the make his college soccer team and inflict defeat on her school who wouldn't let her play with the boys.

There, a complicated love triangle ensues, apparetnly based on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, as she falls for Duke (Channing Tatum) who is in love with Olivia, who then falls in love with Viola as Sebastian.

The whole plot is rendered unbelievable by the fact that putting on a dodgy wig does not make Bynes look anything like a boy and you don't for one minute think anyone would be fooled. We're also expected to believe that Channing Tatum's character has no luck with women and that the team, who look like they've never kicked a football in their life, are the US college version of Chelsea (also lookout for the poster of Frank Lampard for an unlikely big-screen reference.)

In saying that, there's fun to be had in watching Viola try to fit in, whether it's staging fake break-ups, getting to grips with shaving or trying to control her urges towards Duke. It may be nonsense but it's harmless fun.