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This film boasts a talented ensemble, telling the true tale of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a cheeky Sheffield youth from Middle Eastern migrant family. Known as Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to confront racist bullies and transformed into a celebrity world champion in the late 90s. Ingle nurtured his flamboyant confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his coach, cutting him out and making him a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Pierce Brosnan portrays Ingle; El-Masry embodies the role of the prince, and Toby Stephens is the bullish promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the goldmine that the coach had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film honestly misses the Prince’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the all-important story in between is consistently flat and monotonous. It lacks nuance or light and shade in the portrayal 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 character really interesting – although he’s clearly been working out and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is repeatedly burdened by utilitarian, expositional lines that tell you exactly what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the kind of dialogue that digital producers call “second-screen”, making sure you know what’s going on while you’re watching the movie but also glancing at your phone. And, the background music is overbearing, sometimes nearly overwhelming, particularly in the moment where the boxer gets overexcited visiting the promoter in his luxurious home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the big set-piece fight scenes are often disappointingly truncated. A key moment is surely when, provoked beyond endurance in the training facility one day by Hamed as a delusional “elder”, Ingle in fact proposes to get in the ring and fight him. All present in the gym is shocked and uncomfortable. In what way is this extremely risky confrontation going to unfold? What will be the ending? Surely the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he emotionally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

This isn’t to imply that there are no some nice jabs. Brosnan elicits humor when Ingle tells a reporter what he’s teaching the youths from his neighborhood: to reject bias and when you encounter a offender, “Punch him in the bollocks”. Amusing too when Hamed fidgets at the silly stunts Ingle makes him do in the early days: acting like the “monster from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the falling out, the film depicts this as being worsened by a revealing book that the trainer is supposed to have authored (a story element evidently modified from prior material), and there is an intriguingly conceived last discussion – although the heartfelt homage that Hamed is supposed to have paid to Ingle after his passing is merely mentioned in the closing credits, and not dramatised on film. Some interesting material here, but the blows fail to connect.

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