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The movie boasts a impressive ensemble, telling the real-life tale of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a cheeky Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to stand up to racist bullies and molded into a media-friendly titleholder in the 1990s. Ingle nurtured his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his mentor, cutting him out and turning him into a blend of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan plays the trainer; Amir El-Masry embodies the role of Hamed, and Stephens appears as the assertive London promoter Frank Warren, who saw the goldmine that the coach had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the movie frankly lacks the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial story between them is repeatedly dull and monotonous. It lacks nuance or contrast in the portrayal of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the chance to display any subtlety or much of what might make his role really interesting – even though he’s obviously been training and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is often lumbered with utilitarian, explanatory lines that inform you precisely what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). It is the kind of script that digital executives call “second-screen”, ensuring you know what’s going on while you’re watching the movie but also glancing at your phone. And, the background music is overpowering, sometimes almost overwhelming, especially in the scene where the boxer gets too excited calling on Warren in his luxurious home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While the leads do their very best, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the major fight scenes are frequently disappointingly cut short. The most important scene is certainly when, goaded beyond endurance in the training facility one day by Hamed as a delusional “old man”, Ingle in fact proposes to step into the ring and box him. All present in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. How exactly is this insanely unwise standoff going to play out? What will be the ending? Surely the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he sentimentally hold back? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. The actor gets laughs when Ingle tells a journalist what he’s teaching the kids from his local community: to oppose bias and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the bollocks”. Amusing too when Hamed squirms at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “monster from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the rift, the film shows this as being worsened by a tell-all book that the trainer is allegedly authored (a plot point evidently modified from another source), and there is an intriguingly conceived final conversation – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly given to Ingle after his passing is merely referenced in the closing credits, and not dramatised on film. Some interesting material in this film, but the blows don’t land.

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