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This film features a impressive ensemble, depicting the true story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a cheeky Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Known as Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to confront racist bullies and transformed into a media-friendly titleholder in the late 90s. Ingle nurtured his flamboyant arrogance and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his mentor, excluding him and turning him into a blend of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan plays Ingle; Amir El-Masry takes on the role of Hamed, and Stephens appears as the assertive London promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the potential that the coach had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the movie honestly lacks the fighter’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the all-important drama between them is repeatedly flat and monotonous. It lacks nuance or contrast in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the opportunity to display any depth or much of what might make his character truly engaging – even though he’s obviously been working out and appears convincing in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is often lumbered with functional, explanatory dialogue that inform you precisely what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“You started your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the kind of dialogue that digital producers call “double-screen”, making sure you understand what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the film but also checking your phone. Additionally, the score is overpowering, at times nearly deafening, particularly in the moment where the boxer gets too excited visiting Warren in his palatial residence.

Performances and Key Moments

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable best, their dynamic doesn’t quite ignites, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently disappointingly cut short. A key scene is surely when, goaded beyond endurance in the training facility one day by the boxer as a misguided “old man”, the trainer in fact offers to step into the ring and box him. All present in the gym is stunned and uncomfortable. In what way is this extremely risky confrontation going to play out? What will be the outcome? Certainly the Prince is going to kill him? Or will he sentimentally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there are no some good moments. The actor elicits humor when his character tells a journalist what he’s teaching the youths from his local community: to oppose prejudice and when you meet a paedophile, “Hit them in the bollocks”. Amusing too when Hamed squirms 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 falling out, the movie shows this as being exacerbated by a tell-all publication that the trainer is supposed to have written (a story element clearly modified from prior material), and there is an intriguingly imagined last discussion – however the heartfelt homage that the boxer is reportedly paid to Ingle after his passing is merely referenced in the end titles, and not dramatised on film. There is engaging content here, but the punches don’t land.

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