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The movie features a talented ensemble, depicting the true story of coach Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Yorkshire youth from Middle Eastern migrant parents. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to stand up to racist bullies and molded into a celebrity titleholder in the 1990s. Ingle cultivated his flamboyant arrogance and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his coach, excluding him and making him a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

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

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the film frankly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the all-important story between them is repeatedly flat and one-note. There is no subtlety or contrast in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the opportunity to display any depth or much of what might make his character truly engaging – although he’s clearly been training and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is repeatedly lumbered with utilitarian, expositional lines that inform you exactly what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your career at age seven …”). It is the kind of script that streaming-TV executives call “double-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also glancing at your device. Additionally, the background music is overpowering, at times nearly deafening, especially in the scene where the boxer gets overexcited calling on Warren in his palatial residence.

Performances and Key Moments

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable utmost, their dynamic never really comes to life, and the big set-piece fight scenes are frequently anticlimactically truncated. A key moment is certainly when, provoked beyond endurance in the gym one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, Ingle actually proposes to get in the ring and fight him. Everyone in the room is stunned and uncomfortable. How exactly is this extremely risky standoff going to play out? How precisely the ending? Surely the champion is going to kill him? Or will he emotionally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan gets laughs when Ingle tells a journalist what he’s instructing the youths from his local community: to oppose bias and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer fidgets at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “monster from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the falling out, the film depicts this as being worsened by a tell-all publication that Ingle is supposed to have authored (a plot point clearly adapted from another source), and there is an intriguingly conceived final conversation – however the emotional tribute that the boxer is supposed to have given to Ingle after his death is only referenced in the closing credits, and not shown on film. Some interesting material here, but the blows don’t land.

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