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The movie features a talented ensemble, depicting the real-life tale of coach Ingle, who mentored a brash Yorkshire teenager from Yemeni immigrant family. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to stand up to racist bullies and molded into a celebrity titleholder in the 1990s. Ingle nurtured his flamboyant confidence and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, Hamed turned against his mentor, cutting him out and making him a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan plays Ingle; El-Masry takes on the role of the prince, and Toby Stephens appears as the bullish promoter Warren, who recognized the goldmine that Ingle had discovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the film honestly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the crucial drama between them is repeatedly flat and monotonous. It lacks subtlety or light and shade in the depiction of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the chance to display 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 lumbered with functional, expositional dialogue that tell you exactly what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your career at age seven …”). This is the kind of script that streaming-TV executives call “second-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the movie but also checking your device. And, the score is overbearing, sometimes nearly deafening, especially in the moment where Hamed gets too excited calling on Warren in his palatial home.

Performances and Key Moments

Although the leads do their considerable best, their relationship doesn’t quite ignites, and the major boxing moments are frequently anticlimactically truncated. The most important scene is certainly when, goaded beyond endurance in the gym one day by the boxer as a delusional “elder”, Ingle actually offers to get in the ring and box 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 outcome? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he sentimentally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some nice jabs. The actor elicits humor when his character tells a journalist what he’s teaching the youths from his local community: to reject prejudice and when you encounter a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. It’s funny too when Hamed squirms at the ridiculous antics the coach makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “monster from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the rift, the film depicts this as being exacerbated by a tell-all book that Ingle is supposed to have authored (a plot point clearly adapted from prior material), and there is an interestingly conceived final conversation – although the heartfelt homage that Hamed is reportedly paid to Ingle after his death is only mentioned in the closing credits, and not shown on film. There is interesting material here, but the blows don’t land.

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