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The movie features a talented ensemble, depicting the true story of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern immigrant family. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to stand up to prejudice and molded into a media-friendly titleholder in the 1990s. Ingle nurtured his showboating confidence and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his coach, excluding him and turning him into a mix of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan plays Ingle; El-Masry embodies the part of the prince, and Toby Stephens appears as the assertive London promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the goldmine that Ingle had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the movie honestly lacks the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the all-important drama between them is consistently dull and monotonous. There is no nuance or contrast in the depiction of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the opportunity to show any depth or much of what might make his character really interesting – even though he’s clearly been training and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is often burdened by utilitarian, explanatory dialogue that tell you exactly what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your boxing journey at seven years old …”). It is the kind of script that streaming-TV producers call “second-screen”, ensuring you know what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the movie but also glancing at your device. Additionally, the score is overpowering, sometimes almost overwhelming, particularly in the moment where Hamed gets too excited visiting the promoter in his luxurious home.

Performances and Key Moments

While the leads do their very utmost, their dynamic doesn’t quite ignites, and the big set-piece fight scenes are frequently disappointingly truncated. The most important moment is certainly when, provoked past his limit in the training facility one day by Hamed as a misguided “elder”, the trainer in fact proposes to step into the ring and fight him. Everyone in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. How exactly is this insanely unwise standoff going to unfold? What will be the ending? Certainly the Prince is going to kill him? Or will he sentimentally pull his punches? 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 informs a journalist what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to reject bias and when you encounter a paedophile, “Hit them in the groin”. It’s funny too when the boxer fidgets at the silly antics Ingle makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “beast from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the falling out, the movie shows this as being worsened by a revealing publication that the trainer is allegedly authored (a story element evidently adapted from another source), and there is an intriguingly imagined last discussion – although the emotional tribute that the boxer is reportedly paid to Ingle after his passing is only mentioned in the closing credits, and not dramatised on film. There is engaging content here, but the punches don’t land.

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