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One Chance (2013)

thereviewers
Aug 16, 2015
3 min read

One Chance tells the story of Paul Potts, a shy bullied shop assistant who dreams of singing opera. Little does he know that one flip of a coin will change his life forever, as he auditions for and wins the 2007 series of Britain’s Got Talent.

Overall Review Score

6.5 out of 10

Review

One Chance is a 99-minute, 2013, biographical drama with a comedic undertone. It sees James Corden act-out Paul Potts early life and his initial rise to fame as the 2007 winner of Britain’s Got Talent. While the film is a decent biographical drama and retells some of the notable parts of Paul Pott’s life before becoming one of the world’s most famous Opera singers, such as, how he met his wife and his career as a shop assistant at Carphone Warehouse, it suffers from a crisis of cohesion. As its biographical nature is overshadowed by its comedic undertones and cheap one-liners. While the film will outline how Britain’s Got Talent served as Paul Potts’s one chance for fame and fortune, most audiences will be aghast by the unsupportive nature of Paul Potts’s father, played by Colm Meaney, and the seemingly relentless bullying that Paul had to endear over the years. Overall, One Chance is a film that could have been better, yes it does deliver what it says it will do i.e. an expose of Paul Potts, but it falls short of revealing anything new to the audience. It is essentially a film that will appeal to fans of Paul Potts but will leave non-fans wondering what the fuss is all about.

Reviewer 1's score & comments:

Score: 6 out of 10

Comments:

One Chance had a decent premise of detailing Paul Potts life, from a humble beginning of working at Carphone Warehouse to singing opera for the Queen after winning Britain’s Got Talent. However, what drags the film down is the insensitive father figure, played by Colm Meaney, who seems to have no concept of support for his son, as well as, the use of some rather cheap gags during the film. For example, in a few scenes people seem to confuse the aspiring opera singer Paul Potts with the Cambodian dictator Pol Pot. In addition, One Chance offers a large insight into Paul Potts life before winning Britain’s Got Talent but glosses over most of his achievements since, which I thought could have been expanded upon to deliver a nice ending to the film. In summary, the film does provide a nice insight into the struggles faced by Paul Potts, and provides audiences with a glimpse into the unknown town of Port Talbot in Wales.

Reviewer 2's score & comments:

Score: 7 out of 10

Comments:

One Chance is a biographical film that seemed oddly engaging and equally so overtly comedic that I was left wondering how much of it was really true. James Corden does a decent job playing the shy, opera enthusiast Paul Potts. However, Colm Meaney brings down the film by overplaying the disappointed ‘mans man’ father who does not understand Paul’s love for opera and who wants his son to play rugby and work a dead-end job. Away from the acting the film does have some memorable, comedic moments, such as, when Paul is standing in front of Pavarotti and starts commenting on his phone, its cost and its battery life or when Paul dresses up in a clown outfit, in a local pub, to sing opera. Overall, One Chance is a slightly comedic drama that explains the back-story of Paul Potts but goes no further. Its comedic value vastly overshadows its biographical pretext and as time passes, and people forget about the 2007 edition of Britain’s Got Talent, this film will fade from memory as well.