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This film boasts a impressive cast, telling the true story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a cheeky Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Known as Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to confront racist bullies and transformed into a media-friendly world champion in the late 90s. Ingle cultivated his showboating confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his coach, excluding him and making him a blend of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan portrays Ingle; El-Masry takes on the part of Hamed, and Toby Stephens appears as the bullish London promoter Warren, who saw the goldmine that the coach had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

However, the film honestly lacks the Prince’s agility: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the all-important drama between them is repeatedly dull and one-note. There is no subtlety or contrast in the portrayal of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the chance to display any subtlety or much of what might make his character truly engaging – although he’s clearly been working out and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is often lumbered with functional, explanatory dialogue that inform you precisely what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your career at age seven …”). This is the sort of dialogue that digital producers call “double-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the movie but also checking your phone. Additionally, the score is overbearing, at times almost overwhelming, especially in the moment where the boxer gets too excited calling on the promoter in his luxurious residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their dynamic doesn’t quite comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are often anticlimactically cut short. A key moment is surely when, goaded beyond endurance in the training facility one day by Hamed as a misguided “old man”, the trainer actually proposes to step into the ring and fight him. Everyone in the gym is shocked and uncomfortable. In what way is this insanely unwise confrontation going to unfold? What will be the ending? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he emotionally hold back? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there are no some nice jabs. The actor gets laughs when Ingle tells a reporter what he’s teaching the youths from his neighborhood: to oppose bias and when you meet a offender, “Hit them in the groin”. It’s funny too when the boxer squirms at the ridiculous stunts the coach makes him do in the early days: acting like the “monster from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the falling out, the movie depicts this as being worsened by a tell-all publication that the trainer is allegedly authored (a story element evidently adapted from another source), and there is an intriguingly imagined last discussion – however the heartfelt homage that the boxer is supposed to have paid to his mentor after his death is only mentioned in the end titles, and not shown on screen. Some engaging content in this film, but the punches don’t land.

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