| François | 2.5 | A decent success story, but nothing more... |
| Alain | 2 |
Give them a Chance is not bad. But it falls a bit short, because for a success story, you don't share enough the hard work of the characters, nor their joy when they succeed. That's a pity, because then the movie could have become another interesting social movie made in Hong-Kong.
As usually with Herman Yau's movies, you can be sure that the basis are solid. The casting is not well known, but it's efficient. The young actors offer some convincing performances, when the senior don't disappoint. The directing is efficient also, especially in the first two thirds, with a good rythm and energy. Sadly the last third is lacking some emotions and rythm to make the movie really convincing.
So on the first hand, there is an interesting will to treat a new subject (break dance is not really the favorite subject of moviemakers in Hong-Kong) with a serious approach (you won't find any stupid usual teenagers dialogs here) and a strong message to a town stucked in a recession. But on the other hand, the movie lacks a spark, some development on the characters (the two brothers maybe, frustrated not to have the career that the kids may have) which could make the viewers more involved in this story. You won't have an unforgettable memory of the movie of course, but you can still give it a chance, it's 1h30 quite well done.
