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The movie features a impressive cast, depicting the true tale of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Yorkshire teenager from Yemeni immigrant family. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to confront racist bullies and molded into a celebrity world champion in the late 90s. Ingle nurtured his flamboyant arrogance and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, Hamed turned against his coach, excluding him and making him a blend of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan plays the trainer; Amir El-Masry embodies the role of Hamed, and Stephens appears as the assertive promoter Frank Warren, who saw the goldmine that the coach had discovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the movie frankly lacks the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the crucial story in between is consistently dull and one-note. There is no nuance or contrast in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the chance to display any depth or much of what might make his character truly engaging – even though he’s clearly been training and looks very plausible in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is often lumbered with utilitarian, expositional dialogue that inform you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your career at age seven …”). It is the kind of dialogue that streaming-TV producers call “second-screen”, making sure you know what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the film but also glancing at your phone. Additionally, the score is overpowering, sometimes nearly overwhelming, especially in the moment where Hamed gets overexcited calling on Warren in his palatial residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable best, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are often anticlimactically truncated. A key scene is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the training facility one day by Hamed as a delusional “elder”, Ingle actually offers to step into the ring and fight him. All present in the room is shocked and uneasy. In what way is this extremely unwise confrontation going to play out? How precisely the outcome? Certainly the champion is going to kill him? Alternatively will he sentimentally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there are no some nice jabs. Brosnan gets laughs when his character informs a journalist what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to reject bias and when you meet a paedophile, “Punch him in the groin”. It’s funny too when Hamed squirms at the silly antics the coach makes him do in the early days: posing as the “beast from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the falling out, the movie shows this as being worsened by a revealing book that the trainer is allegedly authored (a story element evidently modified from prior material), and there is an interestingly conceived last discussion – although the heartfelt homage that the boxer is supposed to have given to Ingle after his death is merely mentioned in the end titles, and not shown on screen. Some engaging content in this film, but the blows fail to connect.

The film screened at the London film festival and is in UK and Irish theaters from January 9.