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This film features a impressive cast, telling the real-life story of coach Brendan Ingle, who guided a brash Yorkshire youth from Yemeni migrant parents. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to confront prejudice and transformed into a celebrity world champion in the 1990s. The trainer cultivated his flamboyant confidence and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, Hamed turned against his coach, cutting him out and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan portrays Ingle; Amir El-Masry takes on the role of Hamed, and Toby Stephens is the bullish London promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the goldmine that Ingle had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film frankly misses the Prince’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the all-important drama between them is repeatedly flat and one-note. It lacks nuance or light and shade in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the chance to display any subtlety or much of what might make his role really interesting – even though he’s clearly been working out and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is often lumbered with functional, expositional lines that tell you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your career at age seven …”). This is the kind of script that streaming-TV executives call “second-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the film but also glancing at your device. Additionally, the background music is overbearing, sometimes almost deafening, especially in the scene where Hamed gets overexcited visiting Warren in his luxurious residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although the leads do their considerable utmost, their dynamic never really ignites, and the major boxing moments are frequently disappointingly truncated. A key scene is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the training facility one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, the trainer actually offers to step into the ring and fight him. All present in the room is shocked and uneasy. In what way is this extremely unwise confrontation going to unfold? How precisely the ending? Surely the Prince is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he emotionally hold back? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there are no some nice jabs. Brosnan elicits humor when Ingle informs a reporter what he’s instructing the youths from his local community: to reject prejudice and when you meet a paedophile, “Hit them in the bollocks”. Amusing too when Hamed fidgets at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the early days: acting like the “monster from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the rift, the movie depicts this as being exacerbated by a revealing publication that the trainer is supposed to have authored (a story element clearly adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly conceived last discussion – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is supposed to have paid to his mentor after his death is only referenced in the end titles, and not shown on film. Some interesting material here, but the blows fail to connect.

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