Unless you're made of stone, there are certain Puccini arias that it's almost physiologically impossible to hear without getting a little choked up. In "One Chance," that operatic not-so-secret weapon is deployed with expert marksmanship by David Frankel, who knows his way around a satisfying commercial entertainment, as he showed in "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Marley & Me."
The director reels us in emotionally to the true story of Brit TV talent show sensation Paul Potts, keeping the audience in the underdog's corner through an utterly formulaic but sweet movie that does what a crowd-pleaser is meant to do.
British tenor Potts' performance of "Nessun dorma" on the debut episode of "Britain's Got Talent" in 2007 has since then had 115 million YouTube views. That level of exposure indicates that the film's core audience may already know how the cell-phone salesman with the crooked teeth ultimately fared in the contest and beyond. But Frankel and screenwriter Justin Zachman succeed in shaping engaging material out of a story with a preordained outcome.
This is a surprise given Zachman's track record with the cheaply manipulative "The Bucket List", which he wrote, and "The Big Wedding,' an embarrassment that he also directed. His script for "One Chance" pushes all the obvious buttons and trowels on the quaintness, yet it has enough genuine heart to keep you rooting for the protagonist. It taps the vein of Brit films like "The Full Monty" and "Billy Elliot," in which characters battered by adversity and diminished self-esteem soar above the reality of their blue-collar environments, in this case a small industrial town in Wales.
Much of the film's charm comes from the thoroughly winning performance of James Corden as Potts. The actor has been best known up to now for the U.K. sitcom "Gavin & Stacey," and for his stage work in London and New York in "The History Boys" and "One Man, Two Guvnors," the latter earning him a Tony Award. This performance will help kick his career up another notch. Paul is a man with a pure heart, clinging to a dream that dies and regenerates multiple times, and Corden plays this potentially cloying stuff with the ideal light touch.
Bullied since childhood for his chubbiness and his love of singing, Paul presents his life as an "endless drama full of music and violence and romance and comedy," drawing comparisons with opera, his greatest passion. His Internet chat room sweetheart, Julie-Ann (Alexandra Roach), gives him the pluck to go to an opera school in Venice. But his nerve fails him in a master class with his idol Pavarotti, whose crushing assessment extinguishes Paul's light for a time.
It provides a picture-postcardy centerpiece, with splendid views of the Grand Canal and Piazza San Marco courtesy of Frankel's regular cinematographer Florian Ballhaus. But the Italian interlude strikes some minor false notes, and the film works best on home ground.
Paul's depression causes problems with Julie-Ann, chiefly because script conventions dictate that there needs to be some conflict in the path of their marriage. The pattern is right out of the biopic playbook. Each step forward is followed by a fresh misfortune that sidelines Paul's singing ambitions. But his biggest obstacle is lack of confidence.
Frankel wisely doesn't linger over the "Britain's Got Talent" experience, which is recapped using clips of the actual judging panel led by Simon Cowell, also a producer here. By focusing instead on the bumpy road that brought the terrified Paul to the television spotlight, the film gets us invested in his triumph, much the same way reality shows often do with a hard-luck contestant.
While a few details of Potts' background have been tweaked, his family life before marriage reveals unwavering support from his chirpy mother (Julie Walters), and grumbling discouragement from his steelworker dad (Colm Meaney). Both actors are amusing despite a lot of familiar shtick, though Meaney's character might as well wear a sign saying, "Heartwarming Turnaround Ahead." In terms of providing comedy and context, the roles are well drawn, as is that of Paul's co-worker at the phone store, played with endearing oddness by a livewire Mackenzie Crook.
But the relationship that's key to the film's success is between Paul and Julie-Ann, who is given complete emotional candor by Roach ("The Iron Lady"). It's a captivating performance, full of gentle humor, but also a grounded, sensible quality that makes her a perfect anchor for Paul. Their first face-to-face meeting – she comes by train from Bristol to spend the day with him and is hijacked into a family lunch by his mother – is among the film's loveliest episodes, impeccably played by both actors.
Along with the usual random selection of contemporary songs (Taylor Swift?), "One Chance" is full of gorgeous opera excerpts, including Potts' vocals, lip-synched by Corden. If it's heavy-handed to have Paul in full pagliaccio drag silence a pub full of rowdy hecklers with some wrenching Toscanini, it's also irresistible, much like the movie.
-- David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
***
"One Chance"
Grade: B+
Rating: PG-13
Running time: 103 minutes
Playing at: Opens Oct. 17 at Living Room Theaters
Cast and crew: James Corden, Julie Walters, Alexandra Roach, Mackenzie Crook, Colm Meaney, Jemima Rooper, Valeria Bilello, Trystan Gravelle; directed by David Frankel.
The lowdown: This inspirational true story of a contestant on "Britain's Got Talent" transcends its formulaic telling with humor, heart and a pair of cherishable lead performances by James Corden and Alexandra Roach.