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The movie features a talented cast, depicting the true tale of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Yorkshire teenager from Yemeni migrant family. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to confront racist bullies and molded into a celebrity world champion in the late 90s. Ingle nurtured his flamboyant confidence and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, the boxer betrayed his mentor, excluding him and turning him into a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan portrays the trainer; Amir El-Masry takes on the part of the prince, and Toby Stephens appears as the bullish promoter Warren, who saw the potential that Ingle had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the movie honestly lacks the Prince’s agility: the fight scenes flow well, but the crucial drama between them is consistently flat and monotonous. It lacks subtlety or contrast in the depiction of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, 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 boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is repeatedly burdened by functional, expositional dialogue that inform you exactly what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the kind of script that streaming-TV producers call “second-screen”, making sure you understand what’s unfolding while you’re watching the film but also glancing at your device. Additionally, the score is overbearing, sometimes almost deafening, especially in the scene where the boxer gets overexcited visiting Warren in his luxurious home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable utmost, their dynamic never really ignites, and the big set-piece boxing moments are often anticlimactically truncated. A key scene is surely when, provoked beyond endurance in the gym one day by Hamed as a delusional “elder”, Ingle actually proposes to step into the ring and fight him. Everyone in the room is shocked and uneasy. In what way is this extremely unwise confrontation going to play out? How precisely the ending? Certainly the Prince is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he emotionally hold back? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Highlights and Humor

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some good moments. Brosnan gets laughs when Ingle informs a journalist what he’s instructing the kids from his local community: to reject prejudice and when you meet a paedophile, “Punch him in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when Hamed squirms at the ridiculous stunts Ingle makes him do in the early days: acting like the “beast from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the falling out, the movie shows this as being worsened by a revealing book that the trainer is allegedly authored (a plot point clearly adapted from another source), and there is an intriguingly conceived final conversation – although the heartfelt homage that the boxer is reportedly paid to his mentor after his passing is only mentioned in the closing credits, and not shown on screen. There is engaging content in this film, but the punches don’t land.

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