Frankel made the Devil Wear Prada and Marley and Me, two films with great scripts - this one, by Justin Zackham (The Bucket List) less so. Not sure the charming, hard-working and professional James Corden can quite carry off the lead - maybe though under a different director? All the singing is of course dubbed over - not sure by who.
Alexandra Roach has more purchase on less demanding role as girlfriend (unless, of course, she's a right bitch - in which case it's a tour de force! ...but I'm sure she isn't). With Julie Walters, Mackenzie Crook, Colm Meaney, Valeria Bilello and Stanley Townsend as Pavarotti.
Lovely to see some nice Venice footage (shot by Florian Ballhaus in what looks like quite a restrained pallette, at least via our Channel 5 transmission), no doubt filmed at five in the morning. Also interesting to see how industrial and grimy Port Talbot is. Nice to hear all the arias.
One thing though - at the Britain's Got Talent finale, all cut with the real footage, I'd like to have seen it change to the real Paul Potts winning, with him performing the final 'look what I've done' voiceover to real photos. He remains unglimpsed.
Also the rather obvious screen kisses don't help.
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