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The movie boasts a impressive cast, telling the real-life story of coach Ingle, who guided a brash Sheffield youth from Yemeni migrant parents. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to stand up to prejudice and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. Ingle cultivated his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed turned against his mentor, excluding him and making him a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

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

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie frankly misses the Prince’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the crucial drama in between is consistently flat and one-note. It lacks subtlety or contrast in the portrayal of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the chance to display any subtlety or much of what might make his role truly engaging – although he’s obviously been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is repeatedly lumbered with utilitarian, explanatory lines that tell you precisely what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your career at seven years old …”). This is the kind of dialogue that digital producers call “second-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the film but also checking your phone. Additionally, the score is overbearing, sometimes almost overwhelming, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets too excited calling on the promoter in his luxurious home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While the leads do their very best, their dynamic never really comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are often anticlimactically 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 get in the ring and box him. Everyone in the room is stunned and uneasy. In what way is this insanely unwise confrontation going to unfold? How precisely the outcome? Surely the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he sentimentally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan elicits humor when Ingle tells a journalist what he’s instructing the youths from his local community: to reject prejudice and when you encounter a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when Hamed fidgets at the silly antics Ingle makes him do in the early days: acting like the “beast from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the rift, the movie depicts this as being worsened by a tell-all book that the trainer is supposed to have authored (a story element clearly adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly imagined last discussion – however the heartfelt homage that the boxer is supposed to have given to his mentor after his death is merely mentioned in the end titles, and not dramatised on film. Some interesting material in this film, but the punches don’t land.

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