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This film features a talented cast, depicting the true tale of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield youth from Yemeni migrant parents. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to confront racist bullies and transformed into a media-friendly titleholder in the 1990s. Ingle cultivated his flamboyant confidence and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, the boxer betrayed his coach, excluding him and making him a mix of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan plays the trainer; Amir El-Masry embodies the role of the prince, and Stephens appears as the bullish promoter Warren, who saw the goldmine that Ingle had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film honestly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial story between them is repeatedly flat and one-note. It lacks nuance or contrast in the depiction of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the chance to show any depth or much of what might make his role truly engaging – although he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is often burdened by utilitarian, explanatory lines that tell you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your career at seven years old …”). This is the sort of dialogue that streaming-TV executives call “double-screen”, ensuring you know what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the movie but also checking your device. Additionally, the score is overbearing, sometimes almost deafening, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets overexcited calling on the promoter in his luxurious residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their relationship doesn’t quite ignites, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently disappointingly cut short. The most important moment is certainly when, provoked past his limit in the gym one day by Hamed as a delusional “elder”, Ingle in fact proposes to get in the ring and fight him. Everyone in the gym is stunned and uneasy. How exactly is this insanely risky confrontation going to play out? What will be the ending? Surely the Prince is going to kill him? Or will he sentimentally hold back? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some good moments. Brosnan gets laughs when Ingle informs a journalist what he’s instructing the youths from his neighborhood: to oppose bias and when you meet a paedophile, “Punch him in the bollocks”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the ridiculous stunts the coach makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “monster from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the rift, the film depicts this as being exacerbated by a revealing book that Ingle is allegedly authored (a story element clearly modified from another source), and there is an intriguingly conceived last discussion – however the heartfelt homage that the boxer is supposed to have given to his mentor after his death is only mentioned in the closing credits, and not dramatised on film. Some engaging content in this film, but the blows fail to connect.

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