Poor acting and uninspired cast make “One Chance” a film that should be missed

Aaron Schwab
Staff Writer

You don’t have to know much about the one hit wonder Paul Potts in order to whistle his entrancing tune.

“One Chance” revolves around the life of a salesman who strives after his dream of becoming an opera singer after he won the first season of reality series “Britain’s Got Talent. ”

The film successfully depicts the real life struggles and triumphs of Potts, but in a dull and chessy way. This heart-tugging biographical film is filled with clichés about aggressive brutes, lovable underdogs and fairy tale twists of fate that it ends up making the film seem less realistic compared to its predecessors.

Directed by David Frankel, “One Chance” circles around the life of Paul Potts, an overweight man who fought bullies, bad health and bad luck to chase his dream. As a child, Potts was plagued with many misfortunes, resulting in an air of total absurdity around the story. The movie skips quickly through Potts’ childhood and catches up to 2004, where he works behind the counter of a local warehouse, living the life that he dreaded.

Frankel fuses the actual events that took place with his voice-over script in order to compress Potts true voice into a staged act with a rerun of “Britain’s Got Talent” audition. James Corden lip-syncs to Potts’s actual voice that was aired on the British show; intercut with genuine footage of the judging board of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, and Piers Morgan as they turned from skeptical to overwhelmed.

The ingredients are all there for this to be a lively picture on a par with “Billy Elliot,” which was a coaldust-to-stardust story depicting an 11 year old boy aspiring to become a male ballet dancer against all odds. However, “One Chance” does not reach the parts that “Billy Elliot” reached, and the biggest reason for that is Corden’s poor acting.

It takes a huge leap of the imagination to believe in Corden as a shy, self-conscious young man. He looks and sounds the same as always, Corden is just too cocky and happy-go-lucky to play shy “Britain’s Got Talent” tenor Paul Potts.

Overall, “One Chance” successfully portrays the life of Paul Potts, but the uninspiring acting and bad casting eventually make it a poor film.

“One Chance” is rated PG-13 and is playing in theatres worldwide.