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This film features a impressive cast, telling the real-life tale of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who guided a brash Sheffield teenager from Yemeni migrant family. Known as Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to stand up to prejudice and molded into a celebrity world champion in the late 90s. Ingle nurtured his showboating arrogance and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his mentor, excluding him and turning him into a blend of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan plays the trainer; El-Masry embodies the part of the prince, and Stephens is the assertive promoter Warren, who recognized the goldmine that the coach had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film frankly lacks the Prince’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the all-important story between them is repeatedly dull and one-note. There is no nuance or light and shade in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the opportunity to display any subtlety or much of what might make his character truly engaging – although he’s obviously been working out and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is repeatedly burdened by utilitarian, explanatory dialogue that tell you precisely what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the sort of script that digital producers call “second-screen”, ensuring you know what’s going on while you’re viewing the movie but also glancing at your device. Additionally, the background music is overbearing, at times almost overwhelming, particularly in the moment where Hamed gets too excited visiting Warren in his luxurious residence.

Performances and Key Moments

While the leads do their considerable utmost, their dynamic never really comes to life, and the major boxing moments are often anticlimactically truncated. The most important scene is surely when, provoked past his limit in the gym one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, the trainer in fact offers to get in the ring and fight him. All present in the gym is stunned and uncomfortable. In what way is this extremely risky confrontation going to play out? What will be the ending? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he sentimentally hold back? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there are no some nice jabs. The actor gets laughs when Ingle tells a reporter what he’s instructing the youths from his neighborhood: to reject prejudice and when you meet a offender, “Hit them in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the silly stunts 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 exacerbated by a tell-all book that Ingle is supposed to have written (a plot point clearly adapted from another source), and there is an interestingly conceived final conversation – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly paid to his mentor after his death is only referenced in the closing credits, and not dramatised on film. Some interesting material here, but the punches don’t land.

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