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This film boasts a impressive cast, depicting the real-life story of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who guided a cheeky Sheffield youth from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Known as Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to confront prejudice and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. The trainer nurtured his flamboyant confidence and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his coach, cutting him out and turning him into a blend of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan portrays Ingle; Amir El-Masry embodies the role of the prince, and Stephens is the assertive London promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the goldmine that Ingle had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

However, the film frankly lacks the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the all-important drama in between is repeatedly flat and monotonous. It lacks nuance or light and shade in the portrayal of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the opportunity to show any depth or much of what might make his character truly engaging – although he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is often burdened by functional, expositional dialogue that tell you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your career at age seven …”). This is the kind of script that streaming-TV producers call “double-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the movie but also checking your phone. Additionally, the background music is overpowering, at times nearly deafening, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets too excited calling on the promoter in his luxurious residence.

Performances and Key Moments

While the leads do their considerable utmost, their relationship doesn’t quite ignites, and the big set-piece boxing moments are often anticlimactically truncated. A key moment is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by Hamed as a misguided “elder”, Ingle in fact offers to get in the ring and fight him. All present in the room is stunned and uncomfortable. In what way is this extremely unwise confrontation going to unfold? What will be the outcome? Certainly the Prince is going to kill him? Alternatively will he sentimentally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan elicits humor when his character informs a reporter what he’s instructing the youths from his local community: to oppose prejudice and when you meet a paedophile, “Punch him in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when Hamed fidgets at the silly stunts Ingle makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “monster from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the rift, the film shows this as being exacerbated by a revealing book that the trainer is allegedly written (a plot point evidently adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly conceived last discussion – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly given to his mentor after his passing is merely mentioned in the closing credits, and not dramatised on screen. Some engaging content here, but the blows don’t land.

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