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This film boasts a impressive ensemble, depicting the true tale of coach Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Yorkshire teenager from Middle Eastern immigrant family. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to stand up to prejudice and molded into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. Ingle cultivated his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, the boxer betrayed his mentor, cutting him out and making him a blend of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan portrays Ingle; Amir El-Masry embodies the role of Hamed, and Toby Stephens is the assertive London promoter Warren, who saw the goldmine that the coach had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the film frankly lacks the fighter’s agility: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the crucial drama between them is consistently dull and one-note. It lacks nuance or light and shade in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the chance to show any depth or much of what might make his role truly engaging – although he’s obviously been training and appears convincing in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is often lumbered with utilitarian, expositional lines that inform you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your boxing journey at age seven …”). It is the sort of script that streaming-TV executives call “second-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also checking your device. And, the background music is overpowering, sometimes almost deafening, particularly in the scene where the boxer gets overexcited calling on the promoter in his luxurious home.

Performances and Key Moments

While the leads do their considerable utmost, their relationship doesn’t quite ignites, and the major boxing moments are frequently anticlimactically truncated. The most important scene is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the training facility one day by the boxer as a delusional “old man”, the trainer in fact proposes to step into the ring and box him. All present in the gym is shocked and uneasy. How exactly is this extremely unwise standoff going to play out? How precisely the outcome? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he emotionally hold back? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there aren’t some good moments. The actor gets laughs when Ingle informs a reporter what he’s teaching the kids from his local community: to reject bias and when you encounter a offender, “Punch him in the bollocks”. Amusing too when Hamed squirms at the silly stunts Ingle makes him do in the early days: posing as the “monster from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the falling out, the film depicts this as being worsened by a revealing book that the trainer is allegedly authored (a plot point clearly adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly imagined final conversation – however the emotional tribute that the boxer is reportedly given to Ingle after his passing is only mentioned in the closing credits, and not dramatised on screen. Some engaging content here, but the punches don’t land.

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