🔗 Share this article

This film features a impressive ensemble, depicting the true story of coach Brendan Ingle, who guided a brash Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern migrant family. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to stand up to racist bullies and transformed into a media-friendly world champion in the late 90s. Ingle cultivated his flamboyant confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, the boxer betrayed his coach, cutting him out and making him a blend of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

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

Film’s Shortcomings

However, the film frankly misses the fighter’s agility: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the all-important story in between is consistently dull and one-note. It lacks subtlety or contrast in the depiction of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the opportunity to display any depth or much of what might make his role truly engaging – although he’s obviously been working out and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is often lumbered with utilitarian, expositional dialogue that tell you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your career at seven years old …”). It is the kind of script that streaming-TV producers call “second-screen”, making sure you know what’s unfolding while you’re watching the film but also checking your device. And, the score is overbearing, sometimes nearly overwhelming, especially in the scene where the boxer gets too excited visiting Warren in his palatial home.

Performances and Key Moments

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable best, their dynamic doesn’t quite comes to life, and the major boxing moments are often disappointingly truncated. The most important scene is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, the trainer actually offers to get in the ring and fight him. All present in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. In what way is this insanely risky standoff going to play out? How precisely the ending? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he sentimentally hold back? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some good moments. Brosnan elicits humor when Ingle informs a journalist what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to reject bias and when you meet a offender, “Hit them in the groin”. It’s funny too when the boxer squirms at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “monster from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the rift, the movie depicts this as being worsened by a tell-all publication that the trainer is supposed to have written (a plot point clearly modified from prior material), and there is an interestingly conceived final conversation – however the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly given to his mentor after his passing is only referenced in the closing credits, and not dramatised on screen. There is engaging content in this film, but the punches don’t land.

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