One Chance
Director: David Frankel
Cast: James Corden, Alexandra Roach, Mackenzie Crook, Julie Walters, Colm Meaney, Jemima Rooper
Rating: (M)
4 stars (out of 5)
Before there was Susan Boyle, there was Paul Potts: a singing sensation in an unlikely package who was discovered on Britain's Got Talent, a show that is part of the entertainment empire of the demonic talent-spotting genius Simon Cowell.
At first glance, a film about a guy who won a talent show is not that exciting and the Simon Cowell connection seems a guarantee of slick marketing over story-telling.
One Chance (Rialto) turns the preconceptions on their head by being a heart-warming charmer that barely features the talent show. Paul (James Corden) grew up in Port Talbot, the steel capital of Wales.
In the mysterious ways of talent, he adored opera even though there was almost nothing in the environment to encourage it. In his own words, he was ''a strange overweight child'' so of course was a focus for bullying.
As an adult, he stubbornly held on to his dream but was dogged by terrible luck.
But Paul also had the support of the woman who became his wife, Julie, played by Alexandra Roach, who manages to look like a normal person and luminously beautiful at the same time.
Their very ordinary love story is treated as the great operatic romance that it was to them and gives the movie a sweet optimistic core.
Best thing: Mackenzie Crook as Paul's boss and best friend brings great dollops of humour and oddly sensible advice to a man who views his life through the lens of opera.
Worst thing: Corden is not terribly believable when pretending to sing but as we always knew that it is not his real voice, it is easy to forgive.
See it with: A fondness for the good guy winning out in the end.
