One and Only

image for One and Only

Short takes

Not suitable under 10; parental guidance to 11 (language, subtitles, violence)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for One and Only
  • a review of One and Only completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 17 August 2023.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 10 Not suitable due to language, subtitles, and violence.
Children aged 10–11 Parental guidance recommended due to language and subtitles.
Children aged 12 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: One and Only
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild coarse language
Length: 125 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Chen Shou (Yibo Wang) works a constant string of jobs, from helping at his family’s restaurant, to running errands, washing cars, and doing small performances and birthday parties, all in an effort to pay back the debt accumulated during his father’s terminal illness. Chen Shou’s true talent lies in dance. He auditioned for the famous group ‘E-Mark’ just before his father became sick and while he didn’t get in at the time, he never gave up his love of dancing and continued to practice and dream during every spare minute he found. When Kevin, E-Mark’s best dancer, decides that it is beneath his talent to practice with his team dance coach, Ding Lei (Bo Huang) looks for an understudy to take his place and offers the job to Chen Shou, who readily agrees on the condition that if he proves himself capable, he be given the right to remain with the group. Working harder than all the others combined, Chen Shou’s raw talent is transformed and he becomes an integral part of E-Mark, earning the lead dancer’s coveted place. As the National Street dance competition approaches, it looks like all of Chen Shou’s dreams will finally come true unless Kevin and his influence gets in the way. While the country watches with bated breath, a dance-off ensues, the likes of which the Nation has never seen.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Death of a parent; Selfishness; Egocentric behaviour; Power trips; Derailed dreams.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Dancers repeatedly shove each other on stage and in the lead up to performances.
  • Dancers get in each other’s space and move aggressively towards one another, looking very angry and disgruntled.
  • Kevin drives recklessly through the streets, with obvious disregard for the safety of others.
  • A character attacks Chen Shou and physically beats him as he is finishing a dance routine. The rest of the group follows suit and soon a big group is fighting and wrestling on the floor.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • We chat
  • Corona Beer.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • Coach Ding arrives wearing his boxer shorts and shirt after taking off his pants and flinging them to a security guard on the sidewalk.
  • A dancer rips his shirt off on stage, exposing his bare chest.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Characters drink wine with dinner, pints of beer and occasional shots as well.
  • Beer bottles are often seen on tables, along with food.
  • Coach Ding drinks from a wine bottle, chugging it back until he is forced to spit and spray it out of his mouth.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Dumb ass
  • Ass
  • Dumb.

In a nutshell

One and Only is a comedy-drama from director Chengpeng Dong. In Mandarin with English subtitles, the film features incredible dance moves and an excellent cast, and has something for all but the younger viewers. Likely to be most enjoyed by Chinese speakers and fans of the street dance movement.

The main messages from this movie are to believe in yourself; to continuously strive for improvement; and that ultimately kindness, humility and hard work will bring their own rewards.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Persistence
  • Determination
  • Self-sacrifice
  • Teamwork
  • Compassion.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of working hard to achieve your dreams and not allowing the bumps in the road to deter you from your ultimate goal.