James Corden's One Chance, the story about the rise of unlikely star Paul Potts, hits the right note

ONE CHANCE: He was tubby. He was teased. He was taken to the hospital again and again.

James Corden as Paul Potts with Julie Walters and Colm Meaney in One Chance.

One Chance

Director: David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada)

Starring: James Corden, Alexandra Roach, Colm Meaney, Julie Walters

Rated: PG

Rating: 2.5 stars

HE was tubby. He was teased. He was taken to the hospital again and again.

Anything else?

Yeah. He could sing. Pipes of a true tenor.

The kind of voice that puts mist in eyes, lumps in throats, and gags in mouths of those who say they don't do opera.

If you didn't know any better, you'd swear this reads like the background profile of a TV talent show contestant.

Oh. Hang on minute. This is indeed the story of a TV talent show contestant.

Against all odds, Paul Potts took out the 2007 series of Britain's Got Talent.

The bloke had copped enough unlucky breaks in life to suggest he was the ongoing target of a cruel voodoo hex.

Quite rightly, he kept expecting the worst. But not even Paul Potts could comprehend the capacity of the Poms to get behind an overweight underdog and push him to his absolute best.

If you don't know the finer points of the Potts biography, One Chance trundles along just fine.

While there is a rags-to-reality-telly-riches narrative that must be serviced whenever possible, the filmmakers have just enough wiggle room to break free of the oppressive predictability of it all.

In the role of Potts, comedic actor James Corden projects just the right levels of hopelessness and humility to keep an audience urging him on.

Co-star Alexandra Roach is even better as Potts' down-to-earth wife, making off with many of the movie's best scenes just by the winning way she hits her lines.

There are times where the cliches and the corny contrivances are piled so high we lose sight of the real story.

Potts' disconnected relationship with his not-so-supportive dad (Colm Meaney) feels too exaggerated in light of the screen time it is given.

A shorter, but no less significant encounter with the late, great Luciano Pavarotti is handled in a slightly ungainly fashion.

Overseen by the production company of talent-show impresario Simon Cowell, One Chance takes few chances with its source material.

The movie is only barely saved from its softer inclinations by solid acting from the leads, and some seriously fine singing supplied by Potts himself.