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The movie boasts a talented cast, depicting the true story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who mentored a brash Yorkshire youth from Yemeni immigrant family. Known as Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to confront prejudice and transformed into a media-friendly world champion in the late 90s. The trainer nurtured his flamboyant confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed turned against his mentor, cutting him out and making him a mix of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan portrays the trainer; El-Masry takes on the part of Hamed, and Stephens appears as the bullish promoter Frank Warren, who saw the goldmine that the coach had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

However, the film frankly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the all-important story between them is consistently dull and one-note. There is no nuance or contrast in the depiction of Hamed himself, and the actor, 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 training and appears convincing in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is often burdened by functional, explanatory dialogue that tell you exactly what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your boxing journey at age seven …”). This is the kind of dialogue that digital producers call “double-screen”, ensuring you know what’s going on while you’re viewing the film but also checking your phone. Additionally, the background music is overpowering, sometimes almost deafening, especially in the scene where Hamed gets overexcited calling on the promoter in his luxurious home.

Performances and Key Moments

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their relationship never really comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are often anticlimactically cut short. The most important scene is surely when, goaded beyond endurance in the training facility one day by the boxer as a delusional “elder”, Ingle actually offers to get in the ring and box him. All present in the gym is stunned and uneasy. How exactly is this insanely risky standoff going to unfold? What will be the ending? Surely the champion is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some good moments. The actor elicits humor when his character tells a reporter what he’s instructing the kids from his local community: to oppose bias and when you encounter a offender, “Hit them in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer fidgets at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “monster from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the rift, the movie depicts this as being exacerbated by a tell-all book that the trainer is supposed to have written (a story element clearly adapted from another source), and there is an intriguingly conceived last discussion – although the emotional tribute that the boxer is reportedly given to Ingle after his death is merely mentioned in the end titles, and not shown on film. Some engaging content in this film, but the blows don’t land.

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