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The movie features a talented ensemble, depicting the true story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a brash Sheffield teenager from Yemeni migrant parents. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to stand up to prejudice and transformed into a celebrity world champion in the late 90s. Ingle nurtured his flamboyant arrogance and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, Hamed betrayed his mentor, excluding him and making him a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan portrays the trainer; El-Masry takes on the part of the prince, and Stephens appears as the assertive promoter Frank Warren, who saw the goldmine that Ingle had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film frankly lacks the fighter’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the all-important drama in between is consistently flat and one-note. 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 display any subtlety or much of what might make his role really interesting – although he’s obviously been training and looks very plausible in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is often lumbered with utilitarian, explanatory dialogue that tell you precisely what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your career at age seven …”). This is the sort of dialogue that streaming-TV producers call “double-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the movie but also glancing at your phone. Additionally, the score is overbearing, at times nearly deafening, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets too excited visiting Warren in his palatial home.

Performances and Key Moments

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very utmost, their dynamic never really comes to life, and the big set-piece fight scenes are often anticlimactically truncated. The most important scene is surely when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, the trainer in fact offers to step into the ring and fight him. All present in the gym is stunned and uneasy. In what way is this insanely unwise standoff going to unfold? How precisely the ending? Surely the Prince is going to defeat him? Or will he emotionally hold back? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there are no some nice jabs. The actor elicits humor when Ingle tells a reporter what he’s instructing the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose bias and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when Hamed fidgets at the ridiculous antics the coach makes him do in the early days: acting like the “beast from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the falling out, the film depicts this as being exacerbated by a tell-all book that Ingle is allegedly written (a story element clearly adapted from another source), and there is an interestingly imagined last discussion – however the heartfelt homage that the boxer is reportedly given to his mentor after his passing is merely referenced in the end titles, and not shown on screen. There is interesting material here, but the punches fail to connect.

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