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This film features a talented cast, telling the true tale of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a brash Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to stand up to racist bullies and molded into a media-friendly titleholder in the late 90s. Ingle nurtured his flamboyant arrogance and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, the boxer betrayed his coach, cutting him out and turning him into a blend of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan portrays Ingle; Amir El-Masry embodies the role of the prince, and Toby Stephens is the assertive promoter Frank Warren, who saw the goldmine that Ingle had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

However, the film honestly misses the Prince’s agility: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the all-important story between them is consistently dull and one-note. It lacks nuance or contrast in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the chance to show any depth or much of what might make his character really interesting – even though he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is often lumbered with utilitarian, explanatory dialogue that tell you precisely 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 “double-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the film but also glancing at your device. And, the background music is overbearing, sometimes almost overwhelming, especially in the moment where the boxer gets overexcited calling on the promoter in his luxurious home.

Performances and Key Moments

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very utmost, their dynamic never really ignites, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently disappointingly truncated. A key moment is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the training facility one day by Hamed as a delusional “elder”, Ingle actually offers to get in the ring and box him. All present in the room is shocked and uneasy. In what way is this extremely risky confrontation going to unfold? What will be the ending? Certainly the Prince is going to kill him? Alternatively will he emotionally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there are no some good moments. Brosnan elicits humor when his character informs a journalist what he’s teaching the kids from his local community: to oppose prejudice and when you encounter a paedophile, “Punch him in the groin”. It’s funny too when Hamed fidgets at the ridiculous stunts the coach makes him do in the early days: posing as the “beast from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the falling out, the film depicts this as being worsened by a revealing book that Ingle is supposed to have written (a story element evidently adapted from prior material), and there is an interestingly imagined final conversation – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is supposed to have given to Ingle after his death is merely referenced in the closing credits, and not dramatised on film. There is engaging content here, but the blows fail to connect.

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