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This film features a impressive ensemble, depicting the real-life story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a brash Yorkshire teenager from Yemeni immigrant family. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to stand up to prejudice and molded into a media-friendly titleholder in the 1990s. Ingle cultivated his showboating confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed betrayed his coach, excluding him and turning him into a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Pierce Brosnan plays the trainer; El-Masry embodies the role of Hamed, and Stephens is the assertive promoter Warren, who saw the goldmine that Ingle had discovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the movie frankly lacks the Prince’s agility: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the all-important story between them is repeatedly dull and one-note. It lacks subtlety or contrast in the depiction of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, 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 working out and appears convincing in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is repeatedly lumbered with utilitarian, expositional dialogue that inform you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). It is the kind of script that digital executives call “second-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s unfolding while you’re watching the film but also checking your phone. And, the score is overbearing, sometimes almost overwhelming, especially 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 dynamic never really ignites, and the major fight scenes are frequently anticlimactically cut short. The most important scene is certainly 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. Everyone in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. In what way is this insanely risky standoff going to unfold? What will be the ending? Surely the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he emotionally hold back? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some nice jabs. The actor gets laughs when Ingle informs a journalist what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to reject bias and when you encounter a offender, “Hit them in the groin”. It’s funny too when Hamed fidgets at the ridiculous stunts the coach makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “monster from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the falling out, the movie depicts this as being exacerbated by a tell-all book that the trainer is allegedly authored (a story element clearly modified from another source), and there is an intriguingly imagined final conversation – however the emotional tribute that the boxer is reportedly given to Ingle after his death is merely mentioned in the end titles, and not dramatised on film. There is interesting material here, but the punches don’t land.

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