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The movie boasts a impressive cast, depicting the real-life story of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield youth from Yemeni immigrant family. Known as Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to confront prejudice and transformed into a media-friendly titleholder in the late 90s. Ingle nurtured his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, the boxer betrayed his mentor, excluding him and turning him into a blend of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan portrays the trainer; Amir El-Masry embodies the role of the prince, and Toby Stephens appears as the assertive promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the goldmine that Ingle had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the film frankly misses the Prince’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the crucial drama in between is repeatedly dull and monotonous. There is no nuance or contrast in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the chance to show any depth or much of what might make his role really interesting – although he’s obviously been training and appears convincing in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is repeatedly lumbered with functional, explanatory lines that inform you precisely what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). It is the sort of script that digital producers call “second-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the film but also glancing at your phone. And, the background music is overpowering, sometimes almost deafening, especially in the moment where Hamed gets overexcited calling on the promoter in his luxurious home.

Performances and Key Moments

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very utmost, their dynamic doesn’t quite ignites, and the major fight scenes are frequently anticlimactically truncated. A key scene is certainly when, provoked beyond endurance in the gym one day by Hamed as a delusional “old man”, the trainer actually proposes to step into the ring and box him. All present in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. How exactly is this extremely unwise standoff going to unfold? How precisely the outcome? Surely the Prince is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan gets laughs when his character tells a reporter what he’s instructing the kids from his local community: to reject prejudice and when you encounter a paedophile, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer fidgets at the ridiculous stunts Ingle makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “monster from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the rift, the film shows this as being exacerbated by a tell-all book that the trainer is allegedly written (a plot point clearly modified from prior material), and there is an intriguingly conceived last discussion – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is supposed to have given to Ingle after his passing is only mentioned in the end titles, and not dramatised on film. Some engaging content in this film, but the punches fail to connect.

The film screened at the festival and is in British and Irish cinemas from 9 January.