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This film features a impressive cast, depicting the true story of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern migrant parents. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to stand up to prejudice and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the 1990s. The trainer cultivated his showboating confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed betrayed his coach, excluding him and making him a blend of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan portrays Ingle; Amir El-Masry takes on the role of the prince, and Toby Stephens appears as the bullish London promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the goldmine that the coach had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film frankly lacks the Prince’s agility: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the crucial drama in between is repeatedly flat and monotonous. There is no nuance or light and shade in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the opportunity to show any depth or much of what might make his character truly engaging – even though he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is often lumbered with utilitarian, expositional dialogue that inform you exactly what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your career at seven years old …”). This is the sort of script that streaming-TV producers call “second-screen”, making sure you know what’s unfolding while you’re watching the movie but also checking your device. Additionally, the score is overpowering, sometimes nearly deafening, especially in the moment where the boxer gets overexcited visiting the promoter in his palatial home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable best, their dynamic doesn’t quite comes to life, and the major boxing moments are frequently anticlimactically cut short. The most important moment is certainly when, goaded beyond endurance in the gym one day by Hamed as a delusional “old man”, the trainer in fact offers to step into the ring and fight him. Everyone in the gym is stunned and uneasy. In what way is this insanely unwise confrontation going to unfold? How precisely the ending? Certainly the Prince is going to kill him? Alternatively will he sentimentally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan elicits humor when his character tells a reporter what he’s teaching the kids from his local community: to reject bias and when you encounter a paedophile, “Punch him in the groin”. It’s funny too when the boxer squirms at the silly stunts Ingle makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “beast from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the falling out, the movie shows this as being worsened by a revealing book that Ingle is allegedly authored (a story element evidently modified from prior material), and there is an intriguingly imagined last discussion – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly paid to Ingle after his passing is merely mentioned in the end titles, and not dramatised on screen. There is engaging content in this film, but the punches don’t land.

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