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The movie features a impressive ensemble, telling the true story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a cheeky Yorkshire youth from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to stand up to prejudice and molded into a celebrity world champion in the late 90s. The trainer nurtured his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his coach, cutting him out and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan portrays Ingle; Amir El-Masry embodies the role of Hamed, and Toby Stephens is the bullish promoter Warren, who saw the goldmine that the coach had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film frankly lacks the Prince’s agility: the fight scenes flow well, but the crucial story in between is repeatedly flat and monotonous. It lacks nuance or contrast in the portrayal of the protagonist 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 truly engaging – although he’s clearly been working out and appears convincing in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is repeatedly lumbered with utilitarian, explanatory dialogue that tell you exactly what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your career at age seven …”). It is the kind of dialogue that streaming-TV executives call “second-screen”, making sure you know what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the film but also glancing at your phone. And, the background music is overpowering, sometimes nearly overwhelming, particularly in the moment where the boxer gets overexcited calling on Warren in his luxurious residence.

Performances and Key Moments

While the leads do their very utmost, their dynamic doesn’t quite ignites, and the major boxing moments are often anticlimactically cut short. The most important scene is certainly when, provoked past his limit in the training facility one day by the boxer as a delusional “elder”, the trainer in fact proposes to get in the ring and box him. Everyone in the room is stunned and uneasy. How exactly is this insanely risky standoff going to play out? What will be the ending? Certainly the Prince is going to defeat 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 tells a reporter what he’s instructing the youths from his local community: to reject prejudice and when you encounter a offender, “Punch him in the bollocks”. Amusing too when the boxer fidgets at the ridiculous stunts Ingle makes him do in the early days: posing as the “monster from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the rift, the movie depicts this as being exacerbated by a revealing publication that Ingle is allegedly authored (a plot point clearly adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly imagined final conversation – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly paid to Ingle after his passing is merely referenced in the closing credits, and not shown on screen. Some interesting material here, but the punches fail to connect.

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