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The movie boasts a impressive cast, telling the real-life story of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to stand up to prejudice and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the 1990s. The trainer cultivated his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his coach, excluding him and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Pierce Brosnan plays the trainer; El-Masry takes on the role of Hamed, and Stephens appears as the bullish promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the potential that Ingle had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie frankly lacks the Prince’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the crucial story in between is repeatedly dull and one-note. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the depiction of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the opportunity to show any subtlety or much of what might make his role really interesting – even though he’s obviously been working out and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is often burdened by utilitarian, explanatory dialogue that tell you exactly what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your boxing journey at age seven …”). This is the kind of script that streaming-TV executives call “second-screen”, ensuring you know what’s going on while you’re watching the movie but also glancing at your phone. Additionally, the background music is overbearing, sometimes almost overwhelming, especially in the moment where Hamed gets too excited calling on Warren in his palatial residence.

Performances and Key Moments

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable best, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the major boxing moments are frequently disappointingly cut short. A key scene is certainly when, provoked beyond endurance in the gym one day by Hamed as a delusional “old man”, the trainer actually proposes to step into the ring and box him. Everyone in the room is shocked and uneasy. In what way is this insanely unwise standoff going to unfold? How precisely the outcome? Certainly the Prince is going to kill him? Alternatively will he emotionally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

This isn’t to imply that there are no some nice jabs. Brosnan gets laughs when Ingle tells a reporter what he’s teaching the youths from his local community: to reject prejudice and when you encounter a offender, “Hit them in the bollocks”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the silly stunts the coach makes him do in the early days: acting like the “beast from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the falling out, the film depicts this as being exacerbated by a revealing book that the trainer is supposed to have written (a plot point evidently adapted from prior material), and there is an interestingly conceived last discussion – although the heartfelt homage that the boxer is supposed to have given to Ingle after his death is only mentioned in the end titles, and not shown on film. Some engaging content here, but the punches fail to connect.

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