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The movie features a talented cast, telling the true tale of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who guided a brash Yorkshire youth from Middle Eastern migrant parents. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to confront racist bullies and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the 1990s. The trainer nurtured his flamboyant arrogance and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his mentor, cutting him out and turning him into a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan portrays the trainer; El-Masry takes on the role of Hamed, and Toby Stephens appears as the bullish London promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the goldmine that the coach had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film honestly lacks the Prince’s agility: the boxing sequences flow well, but the all-important drama between them is consistently flat and one-note. It lacks nuance or contrast in the depiction of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the chance to display any subtlety or much of what might make his character really interesting – even though he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is often burdened by functional, expositional dialogue that inform you exactly what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the kind of script that streaming-TV producers call “second-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the movie but also glancing at your device. And, the score is overbearing, at times nearly overwhelming, especially 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 never really ignites, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently disappointingly cut short. The most important scene is surely when, provoked beyond endurance in the gym one day by the boxer as a delusional “elder”, the trainer in fact proposes to get in the ring and fight him. Everyone in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. How exactly is this extremely risky confrontation going to unfold? What will be the ending? Surely the champion is going to kill him? Alternatively will he sentimentally hold back? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some good moments. The actor elicits humor when his character tells a journalist what he’s instructing the youths from his local community: to reject bias and when you meet a paedophile, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the early days: posing as the “monster from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the falling out, the film depicts this as being worsened by a revealing book that Ingle is allegedly authored (a story element clearly adapted from another source), and there is an intriguingly imagined final conversation – although the emotional tribute that the boxer is reportedly paid to Ingle after his passing is merely mentioned in the end titles, and not dramatised on film. Some engaging content in this film, but the punches don’t land.

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