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This film features a talented cast, telling the real-life tale of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern immigrant family. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to stand up to racist bullies and molded into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. Ingle nurtured his flamboyant arrogance and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, the boxer betrayed his coach, excluding him and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan portrays Ingle; Amir El-Masry embodies the role of the prince, and Stephens appears as the assertive London promoter Warren, who recognized the potential that the coach had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film frankly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial story between them is consistently dull and monotonous. There is no nuance or light and shade in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the opportunity to show any depth or much of what might make his role truly engaging – even though he’s clearly been working out and appears convincing in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is often lumbered with utilitarian, expositional dialogue that inform you exactly what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your career at age seven …”). This is the sort of script that streaming-TV executives call “double-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the film but also glancing at your phone. And, the score is overpowering, sometimes almost deafening, especially in the moment where the boxer gets overexcited visiting Warren in his luxurious residence.

Performances and Key Moments

While the leads do their considerable best, their relationship never really comes to life, and the big set-piece fight scenes are often anticlimactically truncated. The most important scene is surely when, goaded beyond endurance in the training facility one day by Hamed as a misguided “elder”, the trainer actually offers to get in the ring and box him. All present in the gym is shocked and uncomfortable. How exactly is this insanely risky standoff going to unfold? How precisely the ending? Surely the champion is going to kill him? Or will he emotionally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Highlights and Humor

This isn’t to imply that there are no some nice jabs. The actor gets laughs when his character informs a reporter what he’s teaching the youths from his neighborhood: to reject bias and when you meet a paedophile, “Punch him in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when Hamed fidgets at the silly antics the coach makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “monster from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the rift, the film shows this as being exacerbated by a revealing publication that the trainer is allegedly written (a plot point clearly modified from prior material), and there is an intriguingly conceived last discussion – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly paid to his mentor after his death is merely mentioned in the closing credits, and not shown on film. Some engaging content in this film, but the blows don’t land.

The film was shown at the London film festival and is in UK and Irish theaters from 9 January.