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The movie boasts a impressive ensemble, telling the true story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Yorkshire youth from Yemeni migrant parents. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to stand up to racist bullies and transformed into a celebrity world champion in the late 90s. The trainer cultivated his flamboyant confidence and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his mentor, cutting him out and turning him into a blend of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan plays Ingle; El-Masry takes on the role of Hamed, and Stephens is the bullish promoter Warren, who recognized the potential that the coach had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

However, the film honestly misses the Prince’s agility: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial drama between them is consistently dull and monotonous. It lacks nuance or light and shade in the portrayal of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the opportunity to display any subtlety or much of what might make his character really interesting – even though he’s clearly been training and appears convincing in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is repeatedly burdened by functional, expositional dialogue that tell you exactly what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your career at age seven …”). This is the kind of script that streaming-TV producers call “second-screen”, ensuring you know what’s going on while you’re viewing the film but also checking your device. Additionally, the background music is overbearing, sometimes nearly overwhelming, especially in the scene where the boxer gets overexcited calling on the promoter in his luxurious home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While the leads do their very utmost, their dynamic never really comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently anticlimactically truncated. The most important scene is surely when, goaded past his limit in the training facility one day by the boxer as a delusional “old man”, the trainer in fact offers to get in the ring and fight him. All present in the gym is shocked and uneasy. How exactly is this insanely risky standoff going to unfold? How precisely the outcome? Surely the champion is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally hold back? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

This isn’t to imply that there are no some good moments. The actor elicits humor when Ingle informs a reporter what he’s instructing the youths from his local community: to reject prejudice and when you encounter a paedophile, “Hit them in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “beast from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the rift, the movie shows this as being worsened by a tell-all book that the trainer is allegedly authored (a story element clearly adapted from another source), and there is an intriguingly imagined last discussion – however the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly paid to Ingle after his passing is only referenced in the end titles, and not shown on film. Some engaging content in this film, but the blows fail to connect.

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