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This film boasts a talented cast, telling the true tale of coach Brendan Ingle, who guided a brash Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern migrant family. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to stand up to racist bullies and molded into a celebrity world champion in the late 90s. The trainer cultivated his flamboyant confidence and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his coach, cutting him out and making him a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan plays Ingle; El-Masry takes on the role of Hamed, and Stephens is the bullish London promoter Frank Warren, who saw the potential that Ingle had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie frankly misses the Prince’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the all-important drama in between is repeatedly dull and one-note. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the chance to show any subtlety or much of what might make his character really interesting – although he’s obviously been working out and appears convincing in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is repeatedly burdened by utilitarian, explanatory dialogue that inform you exactly what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your career at age seven …”). This is the kind of dialogue that streaming-TV executives call “second-screen”, ensuring you know what’s going on while you’re viewing the film but also glancing at your device. And, the background music is overpowering, sometimes almost overwhelming, particularly in the moment where the boxer gets too excited calling on Warren in his luxurious residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although the leads do their considerable best, their dynamic doesn’t quite ignites, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently anticlimactically cut short. The most important scene is surely when, goaded beyond endurance in the training facility one day by Hamed as a misguided “elder”, Ingle in fact proposes to get in the ring and box him. Everyone in the gym is shocked and uneasy. How exactly is this insanely unwise standoff going to play out? How precisely the ending? Surely the Prince is going to kill him? Alternatively will he sentimentally hold back? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

This isn’t to imply that there are no some nice jabs. The actor elicits humor when his character informs a journalist what he’s instructing the kids from his neighborhood: to reject prejudice and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the silly stunts the coach makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “monster from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the rift, the film depicts this as being exacerbated by a tell-all publication that Ingle is allegedly written (a story element clearly adapted from another source), and there is an interestingly conceived last discussion – however the emotional tribute that Hamed is supposed to have given to Ingle after his passing is merely mentioned in the end titles, and not dramatised on screen. Some engaging content in this film, but the punches fail to connect.

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