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The movie boasts a talented ensemble, telling the true tale of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield teenager from Yemeni immigrant family. Known as Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to confront racist bullies and molded into a celebrity world champion in the 1990s. Ingle cultivated his showboating confidence and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his mentor, cutting him out and making him a blend of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan plays the trainer; El-Masry takes on the part of Hamed, and Toby Stephens is the assertive promoter Warren, who recognized the potential that Ingle had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie honestly lacks the Prince’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial drama in between is repeatedly dull and monotonous. It lacks subtlety or light and shade in the depiction of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the chance to show any subtlety or much of what might make his character really interesting – although he’s obviously been training and looks very plausible in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is repeatedly lumbered with functional, explanatory dialogue that inform you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your career at age seven …”). This is the sort of script that digital producers call “second-screen”, making sure you know what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also glancing at your phone. Additionally, the score is overpowering, at times almost deafening, particularly in the moment where the boxer gets too excited visiting the promoter in his luxurious residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While the leads do their very utmost, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the major fight scenes are frequently disappointingly truncated. A key scene is surely when, provoked past his limit in the training facility one day by the boxer as a misguided “old man”, the trainer actually offers to step into the ring and fight him. Everyone in the room is stunned and uneasy. In what way is this extremely risky confrontation going to play out? What will be the outcome? Surely the Prince is going to kill him? Or will he emotionally hold back? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Highlights and Humor

This isn’t to imply that there are no some good moments. The actor elicits humor when his character informs a journalist what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose prejudice and when you meet a paedophile, “Punch him in the bollocks”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “monster from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the rift, the film shows this as being worsened by a tell-all publication that Ingle is supposed to have authored (a plot point evidently adapted from another source), and there is an interestingly conceived last discussion – however the heartfelt homage that Hamed is supposed to have paid to his mentor after his death is merely mentioned in the end titles, and not dramatised on film. Some engaging content here, but the punches don’t land.

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