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The movie boasts a talented ensemble, depicting the true tale of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who mentored a brash Yorkshire teenager from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to confront prejudice and transformed into a media-friendly world champion in the late 90s. The trainer nurtured his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, the boxer betrayed his coach, excluding him and turning him into a blend of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan plays the trainer; El-Masry embodies the part of the prince, and Stephens appears as the assertive London promoter Warren, who saw the goldmine that the coach had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

However, the movie frankly lacks the Prince’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the crucial story between them is repeatedly flat and monotonous. There is no subtlety or contrast in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the opportunity to show any subtlety or much of what might make his role really interesting – even though he’s obviously been training and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is repeatedly lumbered with utilitarian, expositional lines that tell you exactly what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your boxing journey at age seven …”). This is the sort of dialogue that digital producers call “second-screen”, making sure you understand what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the film but also glancing at your device. And, the background music is overbearing, sometimes almost overwhelming, especially in the scene where the boxer gets too excited calling on the promoter in his palatial home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although the leads do their very best, their dynamic doesn’t quite comes to life, and the big set-piece fight scenes are frequently disappointingly truncated. The most important moment is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by Hamed as a delusional “old man”, Ingle actually offers to step into the ring and fight him. All present in the gym is shocked and uneasy. How exactly is this extremely unwise confrontation going to unfold? What will be the outcome? Surely the Prince is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally hold back? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Highlights and Humor

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some good moments. Brosnan gets laughs when his character tells a journalist what he’s instructing the youths from his local community: to oppose prejudice and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the bollocks”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the silly antics the coach makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “beast from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the rift, the movie depicts this as being worsened by a revealing book that Ingle is supposed to have authored (a story element clearly modified from another source), and there is an intriguingly conceived last discussion – although the emotional tribute that the boxer is supposed to have given to Ingle after his death is merely referenced in the end titles, and not shown on film. There is interesting material in this film, but the blows fail to connect.

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