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The movie boasts a talented cast, depicting the true tale of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield teenager from Yemeni immigrant parents. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to stand up to racist bullies and transformed into a media-friendly titleholder in the 1990s. The trainer cultivated his flamboyant arrogance and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed turned against his coach, excluding him and making him a mix of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan plays Ingle; Amir El-Masry takes on the part of Hamed, and Toby Stephens appears as the assertive promoter Frank Warren, who saw the goldmine that Ingle had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the movie honestly lacks the fighter’s agility: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the crucial story in between is repeatedly flat and one-note. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the opportunity to display any subtlety or much of what might make his character really interesting – even though he’s obviously been training and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is often burdened by functional, explanatory lines that tell you exactly what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the sort of script that streaming-TV executives call “double-screen”, making sure you know what’s going on while you’re viewing the movie but also glancing at your device. Additionally, the score is overpowering, at times nearly deafening, particularly in the scene where the boxer gets overexcited calling on the promoter in his luxurious residence.

Performances and Key Moments

Although the leads do their very utmost, their relationship never really ignites, and the big set-piece boxing moments are often disappointingly truncated. A key moment is surely when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by the boxer as a misguided “old man”, the trainer in fact offers to get in the ring and fight him. All present in the room is stunned and uncomfortable. How exactly is this insanely risky standoff going to unfold? How precisely the outcome? Certainly the Prince is going to kill him? Or will he emotionally 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 his character tells a journalist what he’s instructing the kids from his local community: to oppose bias and when you encounter a paedophile, “Punch him in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when Hamed fidgets at the silly stunts the coach makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “monster from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the falling out, the film depicts this as being worsened by a revealing publication that Ingle is supposed to have authored (a story element evidently adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly conceived last discussion – however the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly paid to Ingle after his death is merely referenced in the closing credits, and not shown on screen. There is interesting material here, but the blows fail to connect.

The film was shown at the London film festival and is available in British and Irish cinemas from January 9.