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The movie features a impressive cast, telling the true story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Yorkshire teenager from Middle Eastern migrant family. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to stand up to prejudice and molded into a media-friendly world champion in the late 90s. The trainer cultivated his flamboyant confidence and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his coach, excluding him and turning him into a blend of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan plays the trainer; El-Masry takes on the role of Hamed, and Toby Stephens appears as the bullish London promoter Warren, who saw the goldmine that the coach had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie frankly misses the Prince’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the all-important drama between them is repeatedly flat and one-note. It lacks subtlety or contrast in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the opportunity to display any subtlety or much of what might make his character really interesting – although he’s clearly been training and looks very plausible in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is often lumbered with utilitarian, explanatory lines that tell 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 digital executives call “second-screen”, making sure you understand what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the movie but also glancing at your device. And, the score is overbearing, at times nearly deafening, especially in the moment where the boxer gets too excited calling on the promoter in his luxurious residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable best, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently anticlimactically cut short. The most important moment is surely when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, the trainer in fact proposes to get in the ring and fight him. Everyone in the gym is stunned and uncomfortable. In what way is this extremely risky standoff going to unfold? How precisely the outcome? Surely the champion is going to kill him? Or will he sentimentally hold back? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan elicits humor when Ingle informs a reporter what he’s instructing the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose prejudice and when you encounter a offender, “Hit them in the groin”. It’s funny too when the boxer fidgets at the silly stunts the coach makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “monster from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the rift, the film depicts this as being worsened by a revealing publication that the trainer is allegedly written (a story element evidently adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly imagined last discussion – although the heartfelt homage that Hamed is reportedly paid to Ingle after his passing is only mentioned in the end titles, and not shown on film. Some interesting material in this film, but the blows fail to connect.

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