One Chance (2014)

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This movie came and went so fast, partly I suspect because we've all had our fill of reality TV, on TV! At least we seem to wish to avoid it at the movies. In fact this film is not about reality TV, it's a much bigger and more engaging piece, a real romance,talent and ambition, bullying, and the insidious way people support it, depending upon whose the bully. It's also about drive, hard knocks, mean spiritedness and redemptive love. Excellent performances from the two leads.. Paul Potts life really was leading up to X Afactor before X Factor ever existed...there was always going to be a 'One a Chance'. Highly recommended.

This is a solid, but not outstanding, story of an ordinary man's journey to fame. I didn't see it in the cinema because the trailer revealed the entire plot and made it seem like another of those cheesy movies about kind hearted Northern folk triumphing over adversity. One Chance even has Julie Walters, the go-to actor to portray wacky working class characters. I finally saw the film on a plane and found that there was more to it. James Corden, as singer Paul Potts, is a great actor - he can play the Everyman underdog with just the right balance of tentative confidence and vulnerability. The film is about sticking to your dream and rising above the obstacles life throws you. It's interesting how fate can turn on the smallest things, such as friends pushing you to enter that talent competition or suffering health setbacks. And how he realises he has to actively reject working in the foundry and work at his singing. Corden and the script elevate many scenes into works of art, such as the time in Venice when he's rehearsing with his opera singer friend on the streets. And the love scene on his wedding night is genuinely moving. The disastrous audition for Pavarotti is beautifully done. Imagine being told by your idol that you aren't that good. It's another pivotal point where Potts rejects his fate and persists in his goal. Which is quite inspiring. The ending is corny, but hey, it is a musical, and it is what happened in real life. Good on him.

Why do people feel the need to tear each other down and stomp on their dreams. The world would be such a wonderful place if everybody lived up to their potential and followed their passions. Although it takes a bit of time Paul Potts manages to stick with it no matter what life throws at him. He's quite inspirational when you're not cringing in shock at some of the stupid things he does. He really is quite a careless moron but he's a lovable one.Overall the movie is really quite good. It's perfect for lovers of music or anybody who enjoys an underdog story. The ending may not be a surprise but his life in the lead up certainly is. The moral of the story is...never give up because it's only over when you stop trying. On a side note, his dad's a pig.

I think the idea of this movie was to keep the audience in the cinema by firstly completely bemusing them before sending them to sleep in their seats.Directed by David Frankel, 'One Chance' follows the life of a dull, nervous, young boy, Paul (played by James Corden) who likes opera music, to becoming a dull, nervous, young adult, who sings opera music for a living.Firstly the title suggests that Paul only has one chance at something, when in fact he has at least five chances at several things. 1. He has the chance to progress from his choir to study music at a music but he blows this chance and chooses to leave school early and work as a mobile phone shop assistant, as this is obviously less difficult. 2. As a young adult in the word's capital of opera, Venice, he is heavily proposition by a very attractive, talented, educated, enthusiastic, rich young lady, who is also an opera singer, but he blows this chance because he's save a shop assistant girl back home in Port Talbot, the world capital of steel. 3. Also in Venice, he gets the chance to audition in front of his hero Pavarotti, but he blows this great chance by getting stage fright and drying up. 4. Back home he's offered the lead in a major production of Aida by his old music teacher – another big chance, but he falls ill on opening night, and is unable to perform, and looses that chance. 5. Although he was born and raised in Port Talbot, South Wales, and had no choice, when he comes into a lot of money later, he blow the chance of getting out of this depressive steel works town, by buying a house there to live. 6. He also enters a TV talent show. I won't spoil the ending, but just to say, it's another chance! Secondly, is this a film or an extremely long (and boring) advert for The Carphone Warehouse? We must have seen the shop at least 10 times, and had it mentioned at least twice this. The acting is competent from all, but a little caricatured: macho dad; batty mother; bully boy; wacky friend ('I'm positive this character was made up, and put in the film to counter the greyness of everyone else).Thirdly, and this will probably go amiss to non-UK residents, but Paul was born and raised in Port Talbot, Wales, but he has a Bristol, English accent! It's like a man born and raised in New York having a Texas accent. It's a little weird.Finally, and only because the list is almost infinite, light rock-pop dominates the soundtrack, and confusingly conflicts with the operatic theme of the film.So, if you want to spend 103 minutes watching a lot of uncharismatic 'non-steely' people simply 'milling' around all day, in an overly long mobile phone advert (and listen to 'Nessun Dorma' one more time), this is the film for you.