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This film features a impressive ensemble, telling the real-life story of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield youth from Yemeni immigrant parents. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to confront racist bullies and molded into a celebrity titleholder in the 1990s. The trainer nurtured his flamboyant arrogance and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, the boxer betrayed his coach, cutting him out and making him a blend of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

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

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the movie honestly misses the fighter’s agility: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial story between them is consistently flat and monotonous. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the opportunity to show any subtlety or much of what might make his character really interesting – even though he’s obviously been training and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is repeatedly lumbered with utilitarian, expositional dialogue that tell you exactly what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). It is the sort of script that streaming-TV executives call “double-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the film but also checking your device. And, the score is overpowering, sometimes almost deafening, especially in the moment where the boxer gets overexcited visiting the promoter in his palatial home.

Performances and Key Moments

Although the leads do their considerable best, their relationship never really comes to life, and the big set-piece fight scenes are frequently anticlimactically cut short. A key moment is surely when, goaded beyond endurance in the gym one day by the boxer as a delusional “old man”, the trainer in fact proposes to get in the ring and fight him. All present in the gym is shocked and uneasy. In what way is this insanely risky standoff going to unfold? What will be the ending? Certainly the Prince is going to kill him? Or will he emotionally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Highlights and Humor

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some good moments. Brosnan elicits humor when his character informs a journalist what he’s instructing the youths from his local community: to reject bias and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when Hamed squirms at the silly stunts the coach makes him do in the early days: posing as the “monster from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the falling out, the film shows this as being worsened by a tell-all publication that Ingle is allegedly written (a story element evidently adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly conceived last discussion – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly paid to Ingle after his death is only referenced in the end titles, and not shown on screen. There is engaging content in this film, but the punches don’t land.

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