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This film boasts a impressive ensemble, telling the real-life tale of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Sheffield youth from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to confront prejudice and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the 1990s. The trainer nurtured his flamboyant confidence and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, Hamed betrayed his coach, excluding him and turning him into a blend of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Pierce Brosnan portrays Ingle; El-Masry takes on the part of the prince, and Stephens appears as the bullish London promoter Frank Warren, who saw the goldmine that the coach had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie honestly misses the fighter’s agility: the fight scenes flow well, but the all-important story in between is repeatedly dull and one-note. There is no nuance or contrast in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the opportunity to display any subtlety or much of what might make his role really interesting – even though he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is often lumbered with utilitarian, expositional lines that tell you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your boxing journey at seven years old …”). It is the kind of dialogue that streaming-TV producers call “double-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re watching the movie but also checking your device. Additionally, the background music is overpowering, at times almost overwhelming, particularly in the moment where Hamed gets too excited calling on Warren in his palatial home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While the leads do their considerable best, their relationship never really comes to life, and the big set-piece fight scenes are frequently disappointingly cut short. The most important moment is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by the boxer as a delusional “elder”, the trainer in fact offers to get in the ring and fight him. All present in the gym is stunned and uneasy. In what way is this extremely risky standoff going to unfold? How precisely the outcome? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally hold back? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan elicits humor when Ingle tells a journalist what he’s teaching the youths from his neighborhood: to oppose prejudice and when you encounter a paedophile, “Hit them in the groin”. It’s funny too when Hamed fidgets at the silly stunts Ingle makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “monster from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the rift, the film shows this as being exacerbated by a revealing book that Ingle is supposed to have authored (a plot point clearly modified from prior material), and there is an intriguingly imagined final conversation – however the emotional tribute that the boxer is reportedly given to Ingle after his passing is merely referenced in the end titles, and not dramatised on film. There is interesting material here, but the punches fail to connect.

The film was shown at the London film festival and is in UK and Irish cinemas from January 9.