‘One Life’ movie review: The ever-dependable Anthony Hopkins drives this conventional biopic

‘One Life,’ a heart-warming tale of a London stockbroker who rescued over 600 Jewish children before WWII is given that necessary extra zing by Anthony Hopkins, twinkly eyes and all

In 1988, 79-year-old Nicholas Winton (Anthony Hopkins) lives a quiet life with his wife, Grete (Lena Olin). Greta is going to stay with their daughter who is expecting and Nicholas is quite excited about being a grandfather. Greta tells Nicholas to clear the clutter in the house and his study so that there would be space for their daughter and her baby.

As Nicholas looks at the files and papers on his desk, we are taken back to 1938 and a 29-year-old Nicholas (Johnny Flynn) visiting Prague and his friend, Martin Blake (Ziggy Heath). When he sees the conditions the families who have fled Nazi Germany and Austria are living in, he is appalled. He meets Doreen Warriner (Romola Garai), head of the Prague office of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia (BCRC).

Moved by the plight of the children, who despite the hardships are quite chipper, Nicholas decides to bring them to England, out of harm’s way, with the understanding that the children will be reunited with their parents once conditions are better.

Nicholas overcomes bureaucratic hurdles, collects funds (there was a £50 guarantee required per child) and finds foster families — most families are willing to host the children, but it is the £50, which proves the stumbling block. Nicholas is helped in his efforts in London, by his indomitable mum, Babi (Helena Bonham Carter), herself a German Jewish migrant, and in Prague by Doreen and Trevor Chadwick (Alex Sharp).

When Germany occupies Czechoslovakia, it becomes a race against time to save as many of the children before the borders are closed and the predominantly Jewish children are sent to labour camps with their parents. Nicholas is plagued by the guilt of not saving enough children, especially when a train carrying 250 children leaving Prague on September 1, 1939 — the day WWII was declared — was stopped and the children put into concentration camps.

In the present, Nicholas looks at the scrapbook he maintained of his work, which he kept in a satchel given to him by Trevor. He wonders what to do with it and meets the editor of a local newspaper who does not show much interest. He meets Martin (Jonathan Pryce), and after the two share laughs over Nicholas’ adventures in counselling, Martin tells his old friend he will see what can be done. When contacted by the BBC for their That’s Life! programme, Nicholas has a surprise waiting for him during the taping of the show.

Based on Barbara Winton’s book about her father, If It’s Not Impossible…The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton, One Life is bolstered by excellent production design and fantastic performances by the cast led by the impossibly talented Hopkins. It is the kind of feel-good true story that brings a cathartic lump in the throat, one that warrants a standing ovation for a decent man who refused to be cowed by impossible odds.